Archive for November, 2007

When You’re Making Other Plans . . .

Tuesday, November 20th, 2007


Fog, that’s what happens.

So we are still here — waiting to go there — along with literally millions of other people.

Now we are scheduled to go tomorrow afternoon from another airport about 2 hours from here.

That’s the downside. The upside is that it’s a non-stop to DFW, so provided the plane flies we will not be bogged down in a hub someplace — or if we are it will be because we’ve been diverted and that will be a whole new downside we aren’t even contemplating at this point.

My theory about airline travel (and any other sort for that matter) is that it’s a whole different sort of time entirely. I suppose it’s like “dreamtime” — though not meaning the same thing. It’s a sort of “time” which you step into when you leave wherever you’re leaving from, and until you get off at the other end, you’re in “travel time” and “real normal time” as we know it ceases to exist.

What is “travel time?” Time when you have no control, you can’t plan, you are herded about like a sheep (Eamon, where are you?). And all you can do is take along a good book and go with the flow.

Generally I have no problem with this. Today, for example, it didn’t bother me a bit to be told we couldn’t go. Any idiot could see we couldn’t go.

When I get annoyed is when it’s clearly a matter of choice for the airline to muck up peoples’ lives. Ordinarily they don’t.

But last year they did when they knew perfectly well that a three hour late arriving flight the night before was going to mean that the crew couldn’t fly at the very early scheduled time in the morning (there’s a rule that says they have to have 8 hours between these flights to sleep). So everyone who had a connection missed it.

The airline people knew this the night before. But they didn’t bother to tell anyone not to come at the regular time. They also didn’t bother to start booking people on new flights until we’d reached Denver where we sat for 16 hours as flight after flight was already “full.”

There were any number of ways they could have made things go more smoothly. They didn’t bother. And they didn’t even seem to care. Fog doesn’t bother me. Disservice to customers does. I don’t fly that airline as often as I used to. And it’s never my first choice. I’m sure they don’t care, but I’m sorry they don’t.

But I’m not flying that airline tomorrow — and it’s still going to be a good Thanksgiving.

Life After Book

Monday, November 19th, 2007


There is indeed a life AB (after book).

In fact, it’s quite a lovely life for the most part. There are things to do that have needed to be done for aaaaagggggeeeeessss. And I’m beginning to get some of them done. There are books to read — I’m getting one or two of them read. There are places to go . . .

I’m leaving for Texas tomorrow.

When children spread themselves around the country, the chances of ever getting all of them in one place for anything short of a wedding are pretty much nil. So we have been taking our chances, getting one here and one there. And generally we’ve been spending Thanksgiving with friends and neighbors and people we find without a place to go.

But this year we are going to Texas to visit our daughter and her husband and GlowKid. We did it four years ago and had a great time with them. One of our sons came then, too. He won’t be there this year. But I just saw him in Washington state.

We’re looking forward to the visit. I’m taking cranberries. In a bag. So I can make the cranberry sauce when I get there. I might bake some pumpkin bread tomorrow if I have time. I’m busy changing the sheets on the bed so the dog sitter can have a place of his own uncovered by dog hair (for the first instant anyway). And I’m going to enjoy kicking back and relaxing while I’m there.

I’m not exactly looking forward to the trip — flying on holidays is not my favorite pastime. I rather feel like my youngest son does: I love being different places. I just don’t much like having to get there.

Oh well. It beats staying up all night to work on the book.

I wish you all a happy and blessed Thanksgiving. May you, even if you don’t celebrate the holiday in your country, at least stop and reflect on the things you have to be thankful for.

Among my many blessings, I’m thankful for all of you.

Winging Away

Friday, November 16th, 2007


They left.

The ducks all packed their knapsacks and strutted off down the runway a while ago. I saw them take off. I got an email that says they landed.

My editor wished me a “happy manuscript free weekend.”

Ah, yes.

But the truth is, I’ll miss PJ and Ally. The wrap up was, for me at least, definitely worth the trip. I would have preferred to linger. Possibly, when it comes back for revisions, I will allow myself to linger. I feel sure I haven’t seen the last of them yet!