(Almost) Headed Home
Our Christmas stay with our grandkids is over (sigh) and we are (Almost) Headed Home. Almost because our flight from Salt Lake City is delayed over two hours. It has been snowing here on and off for two days and, on the way to the airport the car next to us went into a 720-spin on the slick road and almost hit us. But the snow here isn’t the reason for our delay. Lightning storms in Texas delayed the plane’s departure from Austin to Salt Lake. You should know that in spite of the fact that I am a Million Mile flyer … and that I find the window seat at 30,000 feet a great place to work or write … I hate airports, especially on busy flight days. OK. If I had an airport to myself … and maybe a few hand-selected friends … it might be tolerable. I’m just not fond of being crammed into uncomfortable seating at the gates with hundreds of travelers. Businessmen talking (loudly so we’ll all know how important they are), closing deals on their cell phones. Noisy kids and noisy parents trying in vain to keep them under control. Lonely souls telling their life stories to anyone who will listen. The inevitable babbler with the annoying voice who can’t seem to stop talking even though she ran out of things to say ten years ago.
Our Christmas visit was everything an old Papa could ask for. Fun with the grandkids AND their parents. A chance to see Maddux play soccer Friday Night. Out to a Christmas play and dinner Saturday. Off to see Aquaman with my son-in-law and the boys on Sunday and dinner with the inlaws on Christmas Eve. Being there for the arrival of the newest family member, Bob the Golden-Doodle puppy, Christmas morning, Opening stockings and presents. Christmas charades and name that tune. As I sat listening to Christmas music while the other adults napped and the kids played with their newly acquired toys, I was as happy as I’ve been in quite while.
I had hoped to carry the glow home with me to California, which is quite a challenge given four hours in an airport. Enter my Bose Quiet Comfort Noise Cancelling headphones and an mp3 player full of music I love. As the sweet sounds of Brian Simpson washed over me, I realized something. I like people
… at least large crowds of people … a lot better when I can’t hear them. I actually enjoyed the people watching … and those noisy kids were so darned cute on mute. I survived two airports and made it home about nine hours later. And here I sit in my office, finishing this post. Claude, my cat, happy to be home from the PetsHotel (and slightly pissed at me for taking him there) is curled up in his little house sleeping. And the Christmas glow is about 85% intact. That’s not too bad, is it?
Tags: family, feeling older, flying, happiness, holidays, humor, love and marriage
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Older Eyes 
December 29, 2018 at 5:02 am
Great post. Sounds like Christmas was amazing for 🧒 guys. Makes me happy for both of you. See you soon!
January 1, 2019 at 7:06 am
It sounds like such a wonderful Christmas! The kids are growing up! When I first started visiting here, they were just toddlers.
I loved the contrast in your descriptions of the airport … pre-headphones to post-headphones. I could almost feel the ensuing hush myself!
Happy New Year! I hope some of that glow carries forward into the early days of 2019 and beyond.
January 2, 2019 at 8:20 am
It was indeed a lovely Christmas. I hope yours was good, too, Happy New Year.