Atlanta, return trip

[snugglekitty]

On Sunday morning, mrpet and I got up early (just after six). I put my clothes on and made a last check of my carry-on bag. Then we took my luggage with us and headed down to breakfast. I had several glasses of orange juice, potatoes, bacon, and fruit. I also took a bananna with me for the trip - this particular hotel encourages you to take food with you if you wish.

We got there a little early, so mrpet parked the car and walked me in to the terminal. The earliness turned out to be a darned good thing, because the security line in Atlanta is huge. That was the first time I had flown out of there since before 9/11, so I didn't know that would be an issue. But I made my flight in plenty of time. On the first flight, the man sitting across the aisle from me pointed out very politely that I was sitting in his seat, but didn't ask me to switch, which I thought was very sweet. That also meant that I was sitting next to a woman instead of a man for the flight, which was comforting - I'm more okay with strange females than strange males. The flight was somewhat bumpy and the fasten seatbelt sign was never turned off. The Tanith Lee book I was reading got more and more disturbing as I continued it.

In DC, I bought lunch (a salad), a sudoku book (mine had been left at home accidentally), and a pencil to write in it with. I also swapped out the Tanith Lee book for Changing Patterns, a book on creativity, figuring correctly that it would be less unsettling. I ate my lunch in a little alcove behind the gate counter where my flight was leaving from. A few of the airport staff showed up there to eat their lunches and do other personal things. If I worked at that airport, I would totally eat there every day. It was like a solar. Big window, lots of light, little contact with other humans. After I ate, I did some drawing. I'm still grooving on Picasso. Yay, Picasso!

I got on the airplane and had a seatmate who seemed anxious. That made me a little anxious too. He didn't talk, and refused my offer of gum as well as the stewardess' offer of a drink. Maybe it was his first flight, I don't know. But, I did my puzzles and I read my knitting book and after a while, we reached Boston. I was sitting in the back, and decided that I would stay seated and just try to be calm while people were filing out. I found that approach to be much more relaxing than "stand up at the first possible minute, get your stuff out of the overhead bin, stand in the aisle and wait to move forward." Ironically, it also made the time pass more quickly. It's all in the mind.

My suitcase was one of the first off the plane, yay! I took the Silver Line back to South Station, then the red line home. It went faster than I expected - I didn't have to wait. I was glad there was less snow on the ground than there had been when I left; it made it easier to roll my suitcase along the sidewalk while walking from the station. I got home and lavished love on my kitties, checked my email, checked the schedule on my DVR, had a cup of tea. Later on, I had dinner with teratomarty and 7j, and then 7j walked me home so I could go to bed early. I was, by this point, so tired I could hardly form a complete sentence, and she took very good care of me.

And that was my trip home.