The Adventure Continues

Hola Mexico. Estamos de vuelta!

And of course we arrived with a good travel story. December in North Carolina was COLD. I mean really, really cold. Cold enough to freeze our pipes, freeze the well pump, lose power for 22 hours, destroy the washer at our Blue Heron Farmhouse, and, oh yes, destroy the washer at Sadie’s Place ( our mountain cottage). Even the pond froze. But that was beautiful. All of this amidst two weeks of house guests and almost daily family gatherings and festivities. We had seven grandchildren full of energy, art, laughter and general seasonal frolicking. Sweet, sweet times. And thankfully we have a powerful wood stove to keep us warm. Solar lanterns to keep us lit-up. And gas stoves making it possible to prepare sustenance. And everyone stayed calm and kind. More than a few Christmas miracles occurred.

The day before departure held the usual Must-Do List items. Despite finally catching the cold passed around the family during the holidays I was feeling confident in my ability to cross off everything and get a few hours sleep before heading to the airport at 3:00 am ( yes, 3:00 am). Then as one might expect, the glitch happened. I had a flat tire while driving Thrift Store donations to town! Well, well. And hmmmm. As luck would have it Steve was on his way home from a doctors appointment. Driving toward me, just about 10 minutes away. I was in a safe spot so I just waited and re-calculated my Must-Do list. He arrived and between the trunks of our two cars we had everything we needed to change the tire. And two kindly souls stopped to offer help. The positive spin on this story? If we had taken that car to the airport we would have certainly missed our flight!

So by 9:00 pm the list was finished. I crawled into bed and slept like a baby until 2:30. Out the door on time. And an easy though brain-foggy trip to RDU. It seems that’s when my accumulated fatigue decided it could descend. After a month of go-go-go my body and soul just thought it was time to rest. Not yet!!! Somehow in this state of deep tiredness I managed to maneuver our three large check-bags, one carry-on and one backpack thru the check-in kiosk while Steve parked the car where generous friends could retrieve it later in the day. I did all of this but couldn’t figure out how to attach the peel and stick baggage claim tickets. Duh. That’s how Steve found me. Boarding passes in hand but utterly incapable of completing the peel and stick process. Steve tried to help but we realized his brain fog was worse than mine. He stuck it to his sweater. I tried to pull it off and dropped it on the floor…where it stuck. Damn. These things stick to everything but our bags. I hope someone was watching and got a good chuckle to start their day.

We somehow managed to complete the task when I noticed a Mexican family at the next kiosk trying to understand the very southern, English speaking clerk. My English speaking brain was mush. But for one sweet moment my Spanish brain kicked in. Just one word, “alla” (there) and I pointed to the line they needed to join. We know from experience that it takes a village to traverse an international airport.

Our first flight was pleasant. I nodded off a bit. The connecting flight in Dallas wasn’t bad either. Mostly because we had no idea that our flight time had changed and we had a mere 45 minutes to de-board from the back of the plane and switch terminals. Only as we approached our gate did we realize we were the last passengers to board. Whew! Well at least we didn’t have a long layover (grin). Most of the time I like to to travel with present moment awareness. However; this was a true non-awareness blessing. Clueless, we didn’t have to run thru the airport panicking. Just got on the plane and flew away

Our god-daughter picked us up in Guadalajara. She brought apples and water. We tumbled our tired bodies into the car. Sinking into the sunshine and familiars sounds. Arrived.

And from Steve: Melissa: A Love Affair

My story starts at Costco. 

After you shop you can buy really great footling hotdogs and a drink for $1.50. ….delicious. The so-called cafeteria is really a place where people push their carts right next to their table and sit down to have a quick bite. Very informal. I spotted a three part table with a woman sitting on the far right and I sat down on the far left.  Just as I was digging into my delicious foot-long, I heard a voice say …..”how are you doing?”

It felt like a dream, where is that voice coming from? I look to my right and a fortyish black woman well-dressed, was looking straight at me. “Doing pretty good, how are you?”

My first thought… was she hitting on me? I’m 75 years old so that’s an unlikely scenario. I went back to my dog and then she really broke the ice and said, “I always speak to people that sit down at my table.” Hmm Ok she’s not crazy. Just friendly. I remember a time when people were friendly.

 And we were off and running. She shared a little bit about her self and I told her about how I’d come to Costco to get my hearing aids fixed. She told me about her husband who was s total introvert. …before they went into a eating place he would say ……are you gonna talk to strangers again?  And she would say well if they sit down at my table, I’m gonna talk to them. That’s the way I was raised and you better speak to them too. 

    I told her about my wife and how friendly she was and how she was always able to say just the right thing to whoever she was talking to.

I don’t tell this to everybody she said as tears came to her eyes…. I had a stroke last year and lost the use of my left arm. I told her how I fell while rollerblading and lost the use of my left arm.

Sometimes the right person appears at the right and says the right things.  Melissa broke through a wall that I had created. Life can arrange encounters for us. in the last year as I have aged I’ve wondered if I was losing my desire to talk to people ….it just felt harder. I was wondering if I was getting Parkinson’s like my dad. 

Was I becoming a withdrawn person in a shell? As we talked, I realized I have a gift of listening and asking questions and looking at peoples eyes and opening my heart. Often when I do this, I notice that people will tell me very personal  stories. 

Like a 15 minute love affair we say goodbye. I tell her she has the gift of conversation. Oh yes, she says. I’ve been promoted several times because I am able to talk to people. I thank her for reminding me to talk to people again.