Brighter by the lake
I arrived in Chicago last night, after traveling for seven hours, of which three were the actual flight time.
I am very very happy to be here in this great big, beautiful city, especially for a recording project, but the journey here... well, traveling ain't what it used to be, and I wish it were. It doesn't bear dwelling on, really, except to say that I am committed to finding a way to manifest a good, bracing cup of tea while traveling, because one requires a lot of bracing.
We are told there is a logic to the removal of shoes as you go through security. Remember when Logic was taught in school? It may be time to bring it back. Because "One dog tried to bite, therefore all dogs bite" is not good logic. But we take off our shoes anyway, because the choice not to is not available. Though I wonder what might happen if everyone just said no....
The floor that we shuffle along has not been cleaned for a while. I cut my foot on a protuding piece of metal while shoeless in just such a line several years ago, so the cleanliness of the floor matters to me. The TSA folks seem to have no bandaids or hydrogen peroxide among their supplies, and on that day, in that particularly busy place, they were fresh out of sympathy, too.
I also wonder why a machine that can "see" through my blouse can't see through my suit jacket or the scarf draped around my neck. A lot of undressing and re-dressing has to happen, and in a hurry, as bags continue to roll through the scanners, and a line of disgruntled folks is clotting up behind you. Once inspected, you simply grab your clothes and shoes, and try to find a place to sit down so as to reassemble - and there often isn't one, other than the floor. Which, as I've said, is filthy.
All this merriment, and we have not even reached the gate!
The flight itself was fine. The plane went up in the air, stayed up in the air for the appropriate amount of time, and came back down to the ground in an orderly fashion at the pre-determined location. That's about all one can hope for now. Alas. No more Junior Pilot wings for me. No food service. $25 to check the single small suitcase. An argument from the flight attendant about the amount of milk I wanted in my tea.
(f you have been reading my blog for a while, you may be asking what madness possessed me to such an extent that I would be having tea on an airplane. Well, I did it in the interests of research. One should not presuppose, though if I had, my presuppositions would have been accurate. The tea was both wretched and lukewarm. But I wouldn't have predicted the styrofoam cup, which added an extra sparkle to the exercise, and made me giggle. Even McDonald's has renounced styrofoam. Such whimsy from an airline! All of this was, though, was lightened by the presence of friends on that flight, and by the flight announcements in the voice and accents of an actresshoping to play Miss Adelaide.
This morning I woke in a hotel room with big windows revealing roughly the same view you see in the photo. Light! My room is full of light! The sky is blue this morning, the sun is shining brightly on the city and the lake. It's lovely indoors, but I have to go out, and breathe in the beauty.