Such A Frustrating Day

It didn't start that way.  I got up early-ish, did yoga, and had breakfast.  Then I got dressed in one of my cozy flannel dresses to go to the chiropractor, stopped at the gas station for snowblower gas so that the renters don't have to get more while I'm away, then went to get my car's oil changed.  So far, so good.

Before I left home I used the snowblower to clear the relatively huge plow drift at the bottom of the driveway.  As I finished two neighbor guys came over to tell me about the snowstorm coming tonight that is predicted to bring strong winds and whiteout conditions by morning.  Dandy.  I kept my spirits up through my chiro appointment and to the garage.

While I waited, I called American Airlines to see if there was a chance I could fly out this afternoon and avoid the storm.  It took the customer service guy a while to find a way to get from Green Bay to Ft. Myers today--and he found a way.  For $1347.  Ye gods, that's only about a thousand dollars more than it should have cost.  I told the guy that I only wanted to fly on the plane, not buy the thing.  He said that they didn't have a weather warning for Wisconsin or Chicago so that was the best he could do. Thanks but no thanks.

I whiled away the afternoon puttering around getting a few more things packed, taking the paring knife out of my ditty bag and the nail scissors out of the makeup bag in my purse.  Around 2:30 I came in here to check emails and saw one from Aunt B reminding me to confirm my flight so I clicked the link and the $1347 itinerary came up.  I panicked.  Not only did that mean I had less than 2 hours to get done packing and get to the airport but I also feared that they'd charged her credit card the extra grand.  I called and, of course, had to leave a callback "so I didn't lose my place in line."  While I waited I stowed my yoga mat, a couple knitting project bags, and chargers in my suitcase.  By the time AA called back I was ready to sprint to the airport if by some miracle I could fly today for less than the cost of the airplane, but it was not to be.  Again I mentioned the coming winter catastrophe but they had no weather warning so I was S.O.L.

 


Before supper and just as the postman came by I wrote out the valentines for my kids and grandkids.  Naturally I was about 2 minutes late to get them out today but I thought I'd just toss them into the mail at the airport in the morning.  Ha!

Today's happy mail (aka: not a bill) was the 2019 Summer Catalog from The Clearing which means when I get home it'll be time to sign up for my fall writing retreat.  Hooray!





 

11 February--Tropical Obsession. 

How does the sea grape grow, Nola wondered. You find it in the most unlikely places. Here on top of the cliff overlooking the ocean, for example. There was precious little soil anywhere on the island for plants to grow in and none at all she could see up here. The thick fleshy gray roots lay curled on top of the rock like long growths, not the white threads she saw when she planted begonias with her grandma when she was a kid. Those hours spent with Grandma were the only normal parts of her life so far. Her parents had been aging hippies holding on to the carefree days of their youth with a death grip. They lived in a cluster of yurts outside Des Moines, for God's sake, where her dad taught philosophy and Eastern religions to the sons and daughters of corn farmers and her mother scraped a living as an intuitive potter. That meant her pieces were attractive in an organic way but seldom actually useful. The fact was that her life was one of capitalism and its many excesses, paid for by a man who represented all that Lucas and Beth despised. Their daughter, Moonlight, had changed her name to Nola as soon as she left home and set about getting as far from her roots as possible.

It was 9:15 PM when I got the text from AA saying that my flight in the morning was cancelled.  A half hour later I got a text inviting me to chose an alternate flight.  I just went online to discover that my choices are all on Thursday, February 14.  I'm awaiting a callback in about an hour and a half.  (Why, no, I'm not frustrated; I always grind my teeth like this.)  I am not a happy camper.

As of this moment I'm confirmed on the 6:02 AM flight out of here on Thursday, February 14--IN TWO DAYS.  It occurred to me that I'd better nab a seat on one of the flights offered online so that when I finally get a callback near midnight they won't all be gone.  Gah!
--Barbara