Saturday, March 14, 2015

departure

A crazy night of wakefulness: it's a test, that's what it is! Does she have the stamina to take an overnight flight after having far too few sleep hour from the previous night under her belt? Does she? and more importantly, can she still enjoy the one and only day she has given herself in London on so little sleep?

These are the suspense questions I leave for you and for myself for today and tomorrow.

There's more: how the heck did I manage to book a connection with an eight hour layover in Detroit? Here I have an easy answer. I'm using up Ed's miles on this trip and beggars can't be fussy: this is the best I could do for myself.

And now the upside, because believe me, there is always an upside (please know that whenever I say this, I am excepting days of poor health: there aren't many upsides to poor health). I surely have time to post!

Up early, with plenty of time to pack my tiny case. And it remains half empty.  I have a lot of train travel ahead and light packing makes this a fun way to keep moving.

We eat breakfast. Leisurely, in the sun room. A bigger one for Ed as it's our last meal together for a while. I'm thinking -- I must make it grand and memorable! It is. Both. (I did ask him if he wanted a haircut before I left; he balked. Honestly -- I was glad: I love his hair as it expands wildly in all directions.)


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The cheepers come to say goodbye (or so I project onto them). They hang out forever on the front mat. I'm glad they like it, but its usefulness as a doormat will diminish if they keep leaving for us souvenirs of their visit there.  But who can fuss today! It's sunny, warm, they're in their happy spring mode.


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And then it is time to go. One tiny detour -- to return a sweater my daughter left at the farmhouse. And to peek. Just peek in on a girl who herself seems to be catching up on sleep. Be good to your family, and to yourself, little one!


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And I'm off. I'm leaving Wisconsin at her most glorious moment: the snow is gone, the hope of spring is palpable.


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(By contrast, Michigan, across the great lake, has yet to rid itself of all snow.)


I am in transit. Waiting for that last flight scheduled to leave this airport tonight. My flight. To London.

8 comments:

  1. Aw, seems a bit melancholy, your leaving. Or maybe that's just me. Hope you have a wonderful trip! With as much traveling as you've done I guess if they have one of those extreme descents in Heathrow that you'll be use to it. (Scared me to death when I passed through there once.)

    Oh, no. What are we going to do with 2.5 weeks and no pictures of Snowdrop? She'll have changed so much by the next time we see her!

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    1. No unusual descent. But I have to say, when I was little, most flights out of Warsaw Poland (where I lived) had a stop over in East Berlin. Because of the airspace issues with West Berlin, the descent was tremendously fast and furious, made more awful by the propeller planes they still used in the early 60s. So everything these days seems to me smooth and effortless.
      As to Snowdrop -- I have to think it's good for me and her to have a break. It cannot be that I see her every day -- I'll get way too attached to such a pattern! I'll be that grandma that you can't shake! So, I am tremendously happy to know she is bonding with grandma Charlotte and that I'll probably see changes in Snowdrop when I next see her on April 1st!

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  2. Yes, that was a melancholy moment, the peeking. Daughter could well have retrieved her own sweater, but no, Nana wanted one last look. Sweet, bittersweet.

    March is a great time to go somewhere warmer. Then, when you return, Spring is right at your doorstep.
    Last night I heard the spring peepers for the first time! Hey baby, hey baby, they sing out, filled with lust.
    Every year I just stand outside and smile into the darkness ... Welcome, you horny little tree frogs.

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    1. Spring peepers... first sign of Spring for me too! Well, first after the snow clears enough for me to see the snowdrops in bloom. Plenty of snow still in WNY, alas. No snowdrops in sight, no peepers within hearing. Madison looks much more like Spring!

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    2. You are correct, Joy: the sweater also could have waited... :)

      London is not going to be my warmer spot, that's for sure -- especially considering the utter heat wave we were having in Madison when I left. But southwest England should be great. I'm hoping for lots of good country walks!

      Charlotte, you really lucked out with the weather! Last year, we were having snow on and off all the way into April!

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  3. I'm glad for the forgotten sweater... one more chance for Nina to see Snowdrop and one more chance for me to wish her a great trip, Looking forward to reading about it in days to come!

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    1. Yes, let's overlap more next time. It was great to see you!

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    2. Overlap more... absolutely!

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