Fall Moon of Thanksgiving
No longer under the Southern Cross. The Veendam sailed at 6pm on November 22nd with someone else in the lanai state room 351. Ipanema Plaza hotel room 601 picked up new guests after 2 pm on November 24th. Seats 31 g & h got new occupants soon after 5:30 am on the 25th as did seats 21 c & d after 9:10 am on the same day. The Super Shuttle returned to the airport for more passengers around 10 am.
Then, and only then, could we come inside our very own home. No one to confirm, no immigration vouchers to sign, no customs declaration to fill out, no 5:45 dinner seating to make, no tickets to process, no luggage to check. Just come in, set the bags down, breath a sigh of relief, then get in Rav 4, drive to Armstrong Kennels, pick up four very happy dogs, keep them from jumping in the front seat, herd them in the house.
Oh, yeah. Things go on. Still, part of the pleasure of home is its predictability, its relative routine that lets the mind and body run free for things other than travel. I know, sounds funny doesn’t it, but home can let you have a kind of relaxation and freedom that vacations don’t grant. On vacation you have to think about the money you’re spending–oh, you don’t? well, we do–where you’re gonna eat, what you’re gonna do tomorrow, how to squeeze an amount of enjoyment out to justify spending all this money and frustration in air travel.
I know, that’s the dark side of vacations, but traveling the red eye from Rio can firm up the recollection of the dark side.
Kate wanted me to print out all the post I’ve made on the trip, so I did. It amounts to 60 pages or so, plenty of documentation about the up side.
Anyhow here we are on the cold, cold grass of home and glad to shiver on it. No, really. Hey, I’m a Minnesotan after all.
