Escaping Michigan

I found myself in a very massive line on Saturday morning at the Northwest terminal. The computers crashed shortly before my check-in time. I had thought, since my flight was at the ridiculously early hour of 6:42AM, the airport would be rather calm. I was very wrong. There were about 300 people waiting to check in and the line was not moving at all. Something about the leap year disrupting the system caused all the computers to crash worldwide. I don't know the specifics, but that was the story floating around. At first I was worried I would miss my flight, but they held the planes, which I'm sure were very nearly empty, while this was all being sorted out. Then, as we're waiting there, we start to smell something burning. Soon it was announced that they couldn't accept any luggage. Huge piles of suit cases were forming all around the ticketing desks because the conveyor belt machine broke down. I can't remember a time I saw so much mayhem at check-in. And I just had to start laughing at all the craziness that occurred as I tried to escape Michigan. I picked the fastest moving line. Though I realized why it was the fastest moving line when I arrived at the front of it and found a fast-talking and rather rude woman. She decided to send my luggage to Phoenix. Yes, I'd be there for 5 minutes, but my final destination was Hawaii. I didn't realize this until I left the throng of people and I knew there was no hope in changing things at that moment in time. I tried to be proactive when I arrived in Phoenix. They were nice, but took no action. Apparently there is a difference between your luggage actually being lost and you predicting that it will be lost. "Ok, I know my luggage is going to be lost, it's not actually lost at the moment. Here's the situation. Can you forward my luggage to Hawaii when it gets here?" They didn't feel the need to file a claim at that time. I spoke with a couple other people, but it was like we were speaking two different languages. Oh well... I was on my way to the first class flight and that was something to look forward to.

My thoughts on being in first class - I think I was born to fly first class. I was in the very first row so I could put my feet up. Every time my glass (real glass) of water was getting low they'd come and fill it again. They served a really nice dinner on real china and silverware. It was so spacious and nice. Flying in economy is de-humanizing on many levels. Ok. Enough. I probably won't be flying first class again for a long time, but I will never object to it.

On the plane I made some progress listening to the Mars Hill Audio Journal. I tried to retain everything by taking notes. It's unfortunate that I'm not a professional amanuensis or I would have been a lot more efficient at this. I think I only listened to 2 discussions though. One on the members of The Inklings (C.S. Lewis, J.R.R Tolkien are two) and how they may have influenced each other. And another analyzing the Body Worlds exhibit from the point of view of an art historian. It's a lot like listening to a college lecture or discussion, so you have to actually be thinking with all the parts of your brain to be engaged. I need to have opinions and ideas about all of this in preparation for the "smarty pants meetings" (well, I dubbed it that). We're hoping some friends will agree to get together at the same point in space and time to discuss the topics covered in each edition of the mars hill audio journal. I am really looking forward to this. I wanted to have some kind of forum for discussion like this for a long time.

I arrived in Honolulu and it was hot. Shocking. I was slightly shocked by the warmth and humidity of the place. I didn't like it at first. Well, I was still in a sweater and jeans and I had been on planes for 12 hours, or something dreadful like that, and I still wasn't to my final destination. It takes a moment or two to get adjusted to Hawaii. It's so very different compared to Michigan. Cold Michigan. Of course the weather is different, but also the pace of life is different. I have to say I really enjoyed it and wish I would have spent more time. It's so peaceful and there seemed to be a lot less distraction. The night is night and the day is day. Each sunset was an event. It gets dark at about 6:30 or 7 every night consistently throughout the year. And the stars are so brilliant because there is no other light to contend. There's something calming about these rhythms and respecting them. We woke up with the sun and started winding down after sunset. I feel in places like Michigan, or any other major city, you tend to stay up later and also get up before dawn. The time in between is often spent in a cubicle or office. It feels so dark and cave-like, especially in the winter months. Sorry... moving on. The Michigan winter is over soon, I hope.