On the way

Sitting here in Midway, waiting for the next leg of my journey to Providence.  Flight uneventful, but a landing a Midway is a most rude way to be awakened.  Can’t post live, as the airport charges for WiFi (bastards).  Since I didn’t sleep last night, I promptly fell asleep on the plane before we even reached cruising altitude. I vaguely remember grunting that I don’t want peanuts, thank you.  Had to turn off my Kindle before taking off, as apparently a small digital reader from Amazon can flummox a Boeing 737 with no apparent effort.  Am traveling light today.  I have my trusty red leather roller briefcase that I still adore even after two years (mostly because it’s red and because I get compliments on it wherever I take it – this morning was a woman in STL going through security ahead of me: “Excuse me, can I see the front of your bag…ohhhh…I love it.  Where’d you get it?  I’m going to have to find one.”) packed to the gills with a laptop, various charging devices, work stuff, a travel umbrella and my emptied purse crumpled inside.  Then I’ve got my pared-down camera bag, which contains the contents of the afore-mentioned crumpled up purse, my boarding passes, and a not-so-small D300 with monster 17-55mm f/2.8.  Although the camera and lens are hefty, it feels light since I’m not also packing my usual 50 mm f/2.8, 18-200 f/5.6, fisheye 10 mm f/1.something, and SB800 flash, with all their accoutrements (lens caps, hoods, flash head diffuser, filter holders, filters, etc.).

I did get to talk to a very sleepy Zozer just before taking off.  I didn’t get much out of her, but I did get “I love you…bye…” which was enough for me.  Just hearing her voice was all I wanted, even with sleepy-girl crackles and slurriness.  Talked to M after landing at Midway, where he was nonplussed at my being awoken upon landing (veteran traveler that he is) and remarked, “Yeah, I know it’s a short runway.  Try landing on it during a storm or in snow.”  Okay, okay, I get it Mr. TravelMan.  Nothing I do from here on out will ever compare to your many adventures, including that time the plane circled around right after take-off and landed back on the tarmac from whence it came, empty except for the emergency vehicles with flashing lights that began chasing you as you landed (crashed?) in front of them.

Sitting here, I’m wishing I still had a smart phone so I could check e-mail and pop around on my favorite sites.  Oh, to be connected again.  The girl in the seat next to me earlier was sending off messages before we even hit the gate.  I had phone envy.

I rather enjoyed the drive to the airport this morning at 4:30 a.m.  No traffic, and dark.  Peaceful.  I like being awake in the wee hours.  It’s almost like you have the world to yourself, or you have to share it only with a few other people, most of whom are content to leave you alone and enjoy their solitude, too.