Boston!

And so I did make it to Boston last weekend!

My loving friends, Gina and Cynthia, picked me up with a car share at 1:30 am. We chatted excitedly, left the car in the proper place, and walked to Gina’s house. We sipped coffee, ate, and chatted on the kitchen floor until nearly four in the morning.

After Cynthia and I were tucked-in Gina stayed up in that mysterious way I’ve never understood in order to complete a report. Everyone made it out of bed by noon. I wanted to wake the girls up earlier, but at that point I wasn’t sure how late Gina had been up, and I knew that Cynthia was jet lagged. So I enjoyed the sun pouring in through the two windows, and when I got restless with my own thoughts I plugged into my ipod.

Chatting, laughing, eating, and cuddling, which so richly sums up the entire weekend, continued upon waking. While leisurely sipping hot beverages Gina came to the conclusion that her phone was in the car share, so an announcement was posted and we merrily went about preparing to leave. I wanted to show Gina something I had in my purse, but then I realized that I too had forgotten something in the car. Another post was made on the car share website, and off we went! The three of us were unstressed by our forgotten things. We rationalized that it was no great calamity if the items were no more, and we decided we would probably get them back anyway.

Boston is full of art! Street art everywhere, which gives it a comfortable feel. We visited three different sections of Boston; Jamaica Plain, Dudley, and the Little Italy. All of which were so large that they had their own “downtowns”. I never saw, an apartment complex, although they probably exist somewhere in Boston. Gina lived in a neighborhood that had large multi-family homes that people rented out. They are a much nicer alternative to sprawling, ugly, impersonal apartment complexes. Each neighborhood had its own feel, but they all had interesting visual contrast. There was a nice mix between brick, and siding facades. Lots of the buildings were colorful and had large bay windows. Friday we walked the freedom trail, saw an old cemetery, and saw some of the harbor.

After an amazing meal we went back to Gina’s place to relax and sort out our missing items. Since we hadn’t heard anything, we decided to reserve the car for an hour early Saturday morning and see if our stuff was still there. I checked with the airline about what I should do if I don’t have identification, and contacted my family. Then we kept having fun!

I love these girls! Gina is my best friend ever, and Cynthia is really special. We travel well together. Their perspective on everything is wonderful, but the lost items ordeal really exemplifies how amazing they are. Our day was not ruined and nobody pouted. We created a plan based on what was in our control and then we let it go so that we could enjoy one another.
It is a lot easier for me to keep this kind of perspective when I’m around such strong positive people.

Last week I was disapointed in myself for crying when I showed up to an appointment only to discover that the clinic goofed and they wouldn’t be able to see me. Really, it wasn’t that big of a deal. Nobody sought to frustrate me or let me down. It was a mistake. C’est la vie. Yet as I was calmly telling the receptionist why I was disappointed, and asking her to please speak with those involved my voice quavered and tears fell. I didn’t want to make her feel bad, she hadn’t even made the mistake. The most bewildering thing for me was that I didn’t understand why I was so disappointed. I was missing time with my kids, and I had scheduled carefully, but things change. Roll with it. Goodness! It’s not worth crying about.

When I’m with Gina and Cynthia it’s easier to take trivial disappointments like a lost purse in stride.

In the end we recovered our items and continued with our chatting, laughing, and eating.

I went to college with these girls. We’ve seen each others transformation from awkward freshmen to women. We’ve shared homes together, good times, and hard times. It’s liberating to deconstruct my thought processes with these strong ladies, and get their perspective. It’s exciting to see them reaching for higher degrees, and new opportunities. These women are, creative, wise, reflective, thoughtful, searching, and talented.

Fly Like An Eagle

The sound of a snap that seemed to rush backward and something hovering in my periphery caused me to look up from my book. I was greeted by three oxygen masks, and suddenly the extra popping in my ears made sense. The whole affaire seemed suspiciously void of urgency; as if someone had let them loose as a joke. The bright yellow masks bounced around on curly cords like party hats dangling from the ceiling. Only, nobody was impressed with the joke and awkward silence left no room for laughter. I grabbed a mask and calmly untangled the elastic band from the cup and put it on.

After I got myself sorted out I glanced at my neighbor to the left, he was breathing deeply as if trying extra hard to stay calm. I smiled at him, and his smile told me he was alright. Then we both glanced at the crew who seemed tranquil. I looked behind me, concerned about potential panickers, and hoping that they had a hand to hold. As airline seats disrupt the view more than two rows back I contented myself to re-examine my own oxygen mask, which was inflating. I’ve heard the speech enough to know that inflation is not to be expected. Another quick look around revealed that my mask was the only special one. I decided that I was probably okay and entertained myself by squeezing out the oxygen and watching it refill. Then, wishing I had a hand to hold, I pulled out a letter I carry in my purse and read it.

Meanwhile a flight attendant had completed a check of everyone in the cabin, so I could only assume that all was well. As she was taking her seat the pilot confirmed this with a much anticipated announcement that everything was okay. This announcement was later followed by the news that the internal pressurizer could not keep up with the rapid change in altitude, thus the masks had dropped, just as they should. He informed us that oxygen masks were no longer necessary as he had decended to 9,000 feet where the air contains plenty of oxygen. Apparently it is unacceptable to fly for any significant duration at 9,000 feet so we went back to Saint Louis where another plane was waiting to whisk as off to Boston.

After the last announcement people tentatively took off their masks and the gentle rumble of conversation banished the awkward silence. I again looked behind me, and my neighbor said “Well, now we have a story to tell.” To which I confessed my long held desire for the masks to fall. Upon overhearing this, the other woman sitting behind me looked visibly horrified. I felt no remorse. Check. One more thing off my list.

As we were boarding the next plane, it was clear that this small danger brought everyone together in a pseudo incipient community. People were a little extra chatty; rehashing the event, making jokes, and sharing feelings. During the next safety speech everyone clapped when the flight attendant brought out the oxygen mask. At cruising altitude the beverage cart came through and more than the typical amount of alcohol was poured complements of Southwest.