Monday, June 07, 2010
Back to Reality...
06/07/2010
Heading home, Southwest flight #182, The Nancy and I having positioned ourselves in the very last row, seats F and D. Fortunately the flight is not booked full, so the seat between us remains unoccupied giving us extra room for all the crap we brought on board with us. I love having the middle seat open, especially on this flight given the number of anchovies The Nancy consumed last evening.
We were to depart Tampa 11:45 for the two-hour flight to Baltimore. Since we just had our breakfast around 9am, and being a brilliant and keen observer of feedback given by this machine I call my body, I recognized very quickly I was not very hungry as we approached Chili’s Two near our departure gate. After intensive discussion with my flying partner, we – meaning The Nancy – made the “unilateral” decision to just purchase a little container of cheddar cheese cubes, some carrot sticks, along with a few grapes and ranch dressing. Just to add a little variety to this epicurean delight, we also purchased a yogurt and granola concoction and two Diet Cokes for the extremely fair price of a mere $15.79. What a deal! I told the lady that took my hardly earned money (that was a joke), I was glad we really weren’t hungry.
Anyway, BS aside, we had a fabulous visit with The Nancy’s sister and brother-in-law. I think they are two of my most favorite people in the world, and we are looking forward already to plan another visit to Tampa to spend time with them. They are both gracious to a fault and a hell of a lot of fun to spend time just talking and relaxing. I could sit with them for hours.
I really like Tampa, but unlike Jane and Grey, have little desire to live there. Don’t take this the wrong way, it is a beautiful area. For a very long time in my nutty, youthful days, I always thought I wanted to retire to the coast of North Carolina overlooking the water, breathing in the salt-scented air and living the laid back lifestyle of a coastal retiree. The problem with that, after living on The Farm amid the verdant hills and valleys of my beloved West Virginia, I think the boring flatness of the coastal terrain and the never changing blandness of the waterside would eventually drive me wacko more so than I am now.
There is just something about those hills that draws me back when I am gone. While I love to go places and see things and visit with relatives and friends, there is an incomparable feeling that overcomes me when I see those hills and drive up that gravel road to The Farm. Even as I write this my emotions run high in anticipation seeing the first of the mountains as I drive westerly from Thurgood Marshall BWI International on I-70 toward the West Virginia line. This is truly The Best Day Ever.
And that is all I have to say about that…