by jphilo | Jul 18, 2013 | Out and About
After two weeks of vacation looking at more mountains than you can shake a stick at,
I’m glad to be home thinking these 3 thoughts:
- Someone should figure out how to make flowerbeds, weeds, lawns, laundry, financial matters, work issues, and accumulating dust go on vacation when people travel. I would pay for that service.
- Coming home from vacation at the beginning of sweet corn season is perfect timing.
- The older I get, the more my jet lag symptoms include drooling, dreaming while reading, and sentences trailing off in the middle of a….
What would you add to the list?
by jphilo | Jul 16, 2013 | Top Ten Tuesday
After a week in Alaska followed by another week in the Idaho mountains, it’s time to head home. Here are the top ten signs that say “It’s time to go back to Iowa.”
10. The mosquitoes found us two nights ago.
9. I ran out of calcium supplements yesterday and have just enough clean undies to make it home.
8. The food is so good here that if I stay any longer, my clean undies won’t fit.
7. While walking a mile to use the internet is healthy, it’s not very efficient.
6. My fingers are itching to get back to my mystery novel.
5. There’s this pesky book manuscript to get done by the September 1 deadline.
4. Mom left a voice mail message this morning wondering where I was.
3. Sweet corn season is underway in Iowa.
2. Hiram and I plan to visit the kids and grandchild this weekend.
1. I miss my hubby.
How do you know it’s time for a vacation to end? Leave a comment.
by jphilo | Jun 6, 2013 | Three Thoughts for Thursday
A l-o-n-g layover at the Denver airport was perhaps too much time for reflecting on recent Super Shuttle rides from the LAX airport to Ocean Beach and back, as these three thoughts show:
- Seating a country girl in the front passenger seat during LA rush hour may not be a wise idea. It feels a lot like riding with a teenager who’s learning to drive.
- Then again, sitting in the back seat with a clear view of the speedometer while a maniac driver crosses 5 lanes of traffic while driving 75 mph may not be wise either.
- Even so, the shuttle is preferable and much safer than setting a country girl loose in a rental car in California. And it’s cheaper than a taxi, so next time I’ll pack my own blindfold, gag, and Valium and travel happy.
What’s your preferred ground transportation to get from the airport to wherever you’re going? Leave a comment.
by jphilo | Apr 26, 2013 | Out and About
While we waited to board our flight,
You lowered your pregnant body to the floor,
And play dolls with your daughter,
Your attention fully focused on her.
From the aisle seat across from you, I watched you
Calm your little girl, so giddy with excitement about visiting Grandma.
You had a bag full of snacks, toys, and an iPad, which occupied her
Until the command came to power it down and fasten seat belts.
Then your sweet two-and-a-half year old went ballistic.
She screamed and kicked, threw off her shoes,
Squirmed and kicked her way out of the aisle seat twice,
Until somehow you belted her securely into the window seat.
Not once did you raise your voice.
Not once did you spank her bottom or slap her hand.
Instead you told her what she had to do,
Until finally she finally obeyed and fell asleep, exhausted.
Tears streamed down your face,
As you gazed through the window,
Too ashamed to make eye contact with me
Or the other passengers who’d witnessed the scene.
While your eyes were fixed on blue sky and clouds,
A packet of tissues and a note found its way into the empty seat beside you.
“Every parent on this plane’s been where you are today,” the note said.
“You’re a good mommy. Always remember that.”
photo source
by jphilo | Apr 23, 2013 | Top Ten Tuesday
Hmmm…is the topic of time management really so sad?
Last weekend, I attended the 2013 Accessibility Summit near Washington, DC. As always, traveling is a wonderful opportunity to people watch and be reminded of life outside my own circumstances. It also leads to a multitude of random travel observations, which you’ll be relieved to know have been gleaned to this top ten:
10. Skinny pants still don’t look good on anyone over the age of 8.
9. From the looks of things, 90% of this year’s pansy seedlings are beautifying the highways and byways of the DC area. What will the rest of the country do if spring ever when spring moves further west?
8. I felt very cosmopolitan walking around the international terminal at the Waskington Dulles airport. However, I looked very midwestern. Sigh.
7. God, pour our your blessings on parents traveling with infants and toddlers.
6. Seeing green leaves sprouting on trees, red bud and crab apple blossoms, and tulips in bloom several weeks before they bloom in the rest of the country makes jet lag worthwhile.
5. When your luggage on the way home is heavy with unsold books, all you have to do is ask someone to help, and they will. Don’t ask how I know this.
4. Flight attendants deserve more pay.
3. My friend Rebekah Hamilton of Key Ministry has ushered in a whole new era for non-profit fund raising. Turn paper toilet seat covers into fashionable headgear and people will pay to see someone else wear them in public.
2. Kuddos to the Dulles airport staff for handling a medical emergency with a minimum of fanfare and a maximum of speed and competence. You are amazing!
1. Walking around the airport and watching crowds of people from different places and cultures milling about, realizing many more people are milling about airports all over the world, the words of a hymn came to mind:
How deep the Father’s love for us,
How vast beyond all measure,
That He should give His Son for us,
To make a wretch His treasure.
How deep and vast indeed!
What travel observations have you made lately? Leave a comment.
