“Our rooms may not have wifi. Better warn your families that communication might be patchy.”
This text from my girlfriend while I waited to board my flight to Jamaica didn’t worry me for my family — we covered the wifi and communication situation. But as I gaze out the window from 35,000 feet, I think of my 12 days-so-far of blogging from my phone. I remember my girlfriend’s text and it occurs to me I might have to break my mobile blogging streak. That makes me a little sad.
Is that ridiculous, that I don’t want to break a publishing streak? Maybe. But it inspired me to get my phone out and write.
So here I am, in the air, still over the continental US, with 2 hours left in my flight. One girlfriend has already arrived in Jamaica. My first leg landed early, and I ran the two terminals to her gate in the Atlanta airport before she boarded her flight. I gave her a hug and she gave me her sweater. She may already be at the poolside bar, and I’m right behind her.
Another girlfriend is also in the air right now, coming from her connection in Philly, while a third girlfriend is waiting to board her connection in Charlotte.
Meanwhile, I look down at patchwork squares of farmland (emerald, grass green, sand), beryl retention pools, red clay baseball diamonds, and small puffs of white clouds.
The last time I was on a plane to Jamaica I also wrote. On loose leaf paper I described the thunderheads I flew above, scribbled hopes and dreams, and shared random thoughts about science, nature, and God in a long letter to the man I had fallen in love with two weeks earlier. That was 21 years ago, and that man woke up at 4:30 this morning to drive me to the airport.
The beverage cart just came through and I’m sipping Bloody Mary mix — my last-ditch attempt to get some vegetables in my body before what will surely be an unhealthy mix of laying around, rum, junk food, and more rum over the next few days.
I see the Gulf of Mexico out the window. We’re over Florida now, near Tampa Bay (hi Gracie!).
The in-flight map shows the turquoise waters surrounding the Bahamas. Liquid aquamarine is my favorite color on earth. It makes my heart sing. I want to dive into it.
I daydream of one day living on a sailboat with Brian, and I remember the sailing primer in my tote bag. I finished a leadership book on the flight to Atlanta, started a book club book in the airport, and will dive into my sailing book now.
I’ve got my fingers crossed that I find wifi somewhere after landing. If I do, I’ll send a picture from Jamaica.
Butterfly Mind 