It's tough for me to believe that I am actually at the airport gate, waiting for my flight to Detroit. As if this was somehow normal. I sent my suitcase through -- packed, nice and full, too heavy for my liking, but I come prepared for this trip. It's not an ordinary trip. Not my usual stop in Paris where I can exhale in the Jardins Luxembourg. This particular adventure has been in the works for years. To have finally picked a day that works, to have gotten everyone on board -- that alone was a challenge. Only the first of many challenges.
And then of course I threw in my gardening project, and I scheduled a move -- none of these interfered with the trip, but it made me feel very grateful that I did all the travel work early. And still, it wasn't clear to me how I could get it all done. But I did get it done and now here I am, at the airport.
* * *
I woke early once again today. Without Millie here, you'd think I would seize the chance to get up later. But of course, a restlessness has settled over me and once I am awake in the morning, sleep seems like someone else's indulgence. Not mine.
And I'm glad I got up at dawn. I had so much to accomplish before my planned departure at 11:15 -- the time I was to pick up Ed for the drive to the airport (he'll take the car back, so that I don't have to pay for parking).
After tending to the plants on the porch, putting out the inside ones too, for easy watering while I'm away, after confirming and reconfirming various reservations for this week and next, after cleaning everything (because I just received notice that my landlord at Sally's House is coming around for an inspection this week and I want him/her to find the place completely in order), I sit down to a breakfast. Inside. because I have all those lists to go over and besides, it's a steam bath out there!
I miss Millie.
I forgot to eat the two ripe strawberries that just ripened. It wasn't on my list.
And now I have just 2.5 hours to shower and to pack.
* * *
Packing well for any trip is a challenge. I've gotten to be good at it. Very organized. But this is a two week trip, to three destinations and the weather in each looks to be inbetween: meaning not warm, not cold. This is tough to navigate. T-shirts with sweaters? That's bulky. I've not packed until the last minute, but I've thought about it a lot.
But this is not the toughest challenge. What takes even more time is the packing of all the non-clothes items. The backpack, with the just in case meds, cords, connectors, plugs, tablets, camera, decaf teabags, honey suckies for the plane, laptop, needed papers -- my daughter laughs at this: it's okay mom, older people need to see things on paper! So I ditch printing out anything. Just to show her!
Backpack is ready. I hit the purse next: none of the clutter of daily life. I really try to keep it light here. A wallet. Some bandaids because kids always need a bandaid. A pen and pad. Glasses. Tic-tocs. House keys. That's it.
And finally the suitcase. I have 90 minutes to pack up and leave.
* * *
But where to? What's this trip about anyway? Why the importance I've given to it?
We are a family of travelers. Except for my older daughter who would much rather stay home than go on a longer trip, we all are enthusiastic explorers of other cultures. My friends in Poland have asked me again and again why my kids, my grandkids never come to Poland. I can't really explore this here -- it's complicated! (Not confidential, just complicated.) My older girl traveled to Poland once, my younger daughter twice with me. Ed -- twice. And curious that they were, I do think that was satisfactory to everyone. They saw it. Now they wanted to see the rest of the world (except for Ed and one of my girls, who just want to stay home). But we all knew that the grandkids should have a turn as well, to see the country which is a significant part of their heritage. They are all at least 25% Polish -- some of them more, because one son-in-law has some Polish in him and my ex (their granddad) may or may not have some small amount of Polish too. It is by far the most dominant ancestral home for all five kids (after Polish comes a deluge of other countries, in small amounts).
It became a race of timing: the kids need to be old enough to remember at least something of their visit to Poland, and I have to be young enough to do this with them. We chose this year for it.
It's not a long trip -- a week in Warsaw for me, just 5-6 days for the rest. They have limited vacations and one young family wants to add on one other country to this adventure, and the other young family is going for two more countries.
But this is it then: we're all going to be in Warsaw together, and I am charged with showing them their ancestral home, with the understanding that some would benefit from historical detail, all would benefit from sampling Polish cooking, I would like my friends to meet them and vice versa, and of course my sister and nephews are there to fill in some more Polish faces of our family tree.
After a week in Warsaw, I'll go with one family to their second destination, and then with the other family to their third destination (skipping their second one, which will be Estonia, which fulfills for three grandkids something like an eighth of their ancestral space).
A complicated trip. An important trip.
They say it will be raining all the days we are in Warsaw, so a wet trip too!
* * *
It was, in the end, a dramatic departure. The predicted storms rolled into Madison at the predicted time: a few minutes after 1:30. Downed trees, power outages. Our full flight, scheduled to depart for Detroit at 1:31, had everyone on board in record time. The pilot got permission to depart fast. We were in the air minutes before the damaging storms hit town.
I'm in Detroit now. With a five hour layover, I wasn't especially concerned about missing my connection. The next one though, in Paris, will be trickier. I'm entering Europe for the first time with the new electronic system in place for foreign nationals entering the EU. If there are long lines, I doubt that I can make it to my Warsaw bound flight. But why worry? I packed my suitcase on time. I got out before the storms. My garden is planted and I hope still is in place after the storms raced through it.
I miss Millie. I miss Ed. The rest of the family? Along with Carey, a family friend -- I will see them all on Saturday. In Warsaw.
with so much love...
