Technically the day started before I fell asleep. Exhausted but content I crashed at 2am after
a long day spent packing, sampling (twice!) cleaning, and sorting out phone
malfunction issues. The day continued at 4:30 am with Stu (thanks a million!), driving me to the airport and arriving with just enough time
to check my 75 lbs of baggage, get through security and yes, buy a bagel all by
530am. So many successes. On the plan to Chichago, I became acutely
aware of the world outside graduate school in seattle. Crying babies (Meg you would have loved the
flight ;) ), families and lots of overweight people… I felt healthy.
The flight was uneventful, and being exhausted after only
2.5 hours of sleep, I was happy for the, albeit cramped, nap. The pilot informed us that our plane was only
10 days old, fresh out of the factory. I
couldn’t decide whether the soft glowing blue lights in the cabin felt futuristic, or like I was in some new age smooth jazz club, or maybe a
high profile runway show (where were the models and photographers?). In my sleepy state I dreamed up some matlab
code that motivated me to open my computer and begin working…of course when I
attempted to implement it, my "dream code” proved much more challenging when I
actually had to type real things into MATLAB…. I’d like to think my habit of
dazed problem solving, something I apply most frequently to work and elusive
climbing moves, is a primitive form of optimism. My subconscious knows it possible. :) Funny how things seem the most clear while in
the fuzziest of states. I gave up on
reality and slept the remainder of the flight.
I had enough time in the Midway airport to snag a book for
the next 7 weeks. After perusing the
book store, and debating over caving in to The Hunger Games craze, or wrapping
myself in a Hatchet like novel with a strong female lead that had “river” in
the title (yes, I’m a sucker of strong female leads, and outdoors, and yes, I
am secretly a feminist :) ) I left the bookstore bored and unenthused. I decided to try again at another airport
shop and was immediately drawn to Moby Duck, a non-fiction account of 28,800
floating beaver, duck, turtle and frog bath toys, lost at sea in the Graveyard
of the Pacific. Sold. I’ve only read the first 12 pages and already
strongly recommend it.
I chatted with a woman in the lobby while waiting for my
connection to Albany, NY. Our
conversation became centered on environmental issues, at which point she pulled
out her Sierra club magazine to show me a couple articles. One short blurb, she insisted I look at, was
about a woman who had accidently burned down a 3500 year old tree while smoking
meth under its once expansive canopy. She
asked me, “how do you not get discouraged?” “In grad school” I asked? “No, by all the natural destruction happening.” A thought instantly popped into my head: “I
fill my time by researching it, understanding it, and hopefully fixing it…most
my friends do. It’s our lives, our work and our playground.” I did not say this to her, only that it was
concerning. Then I wondered, why this
was enough for me? Why am I not more fired up and dismayed about strip mining,
active water contamination and global warming?...I believe this is the researcher in me, working towards a
Unbeknownst to me, there was a gaggle of kids in the back of
the airplane to NY. As the plan sped up
and lifted off the ground an excited cheer rang out from the back, as if we had
just gone over the hill of a roller coaster. “WOOOOO
! we are flying!!!” The kids called out. All the
seasoned travelers around us gave a laugh.
Though that kid we were all reliving the excitement, novelty and seeming
magic of our first flight. The older man
next to me leaned over to his wife saying “Oh to be young again.” As we gained altitude and passed through the
thick cumulus clouds, characteristic of hot and humid eastern summers, the
plane yawed and pitched with turbulence. During the bumpy spell one of the kids in the
back decreed that “this is the best day ever!”.
Kids after my own heart! Through
them we are reminded of the excitement of travel, the novelty of life.
..half way to Kangerlussuaq, Greenland.
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