United

Here we are at the San Diego airport. Waiting. Waiting to get on our plane that will take us back to the mountains, to the puppies, and to snow. Goodbye beach, goodbye seals, goodbye homemade tortillas.
It is amazing how an experience that filled you with such fond memories, relived comforts, and enjoyable firsts can be momentarily forgotten by the suffocating weight of other people’s humanity. Or lack thereof. It starts with your suitcase being five pounds too heavy. Then somehow that five pounds equating to fifty dollars of extra fees. In a frantic, you open your suitcase and grab out the five suggested items and stuff them in your boyfriend’s satchel. In a rush, you fling your suitcase back onto the weigher machine where it says that has magically gained weight. With an unappreciated chuckle, the ‘attendant’ pauses momentarily as the weigher adjusts and shows that the suitcase is now only half a pound over the limit. In an act of divine graciousness, she smiles and says that she will let that pass. Isn’t she a sweetest? After that, you head onto to the security lines to unpack everything in your computer bag, removed your belt, shoes, and everything you wouldn’t want stolen and send it through a cancer inducing machine. As you walk through a similar human sized cancer contraption, you glance over at your boyfriend as he passes through a comparable checkpoint. The friendly Uniworkers are taking out the brown paper wrapped parcels that you removed from your oh sooo heavy suitcase and placed in his carry-on bag. You turn away in disgust as you realize that your San Diego-made jam you bought for you Dunkyn-n-Dolan-sitting parents is going to be tossed in the trash. You continue on your way through the cloning line and reclaim your lost items. Finally you take a seat in the awaiting plane area an hour and a half early only to be informed shortly that your flight is going to be delayed two more hours. Really? And they didn’t even have the courtesy to have the cute military boys strip search you…
I am sure that I when we return home that we will be able to recall that vacation was in all actuality extremely wonderful. Chad loved San Diego nearly as much as I do. Plus he bought a little ukulele type toy guitar. So, happiness. I am sure it will bring us closer together when it is brought out on quiet, peaceful nights back home.
Well, I was going to offer more thoughts/fears/insights about the possible/probably move to San Diego someday, but Chad purchased some SD playing cards. So time to play while we wait upon our long lost plane.