Monday, January 10, 2011

As I type, I'm listening to Shulamith's student teacher, Michelle, do the calendar with her kindergarten class. I just learned that today is Monday, January 10, 2011. Wow! My last blog post was Monday, December 27th, a whole two weeks ago. Where did those days disappear to? I spent most of them immersed in post-Christmas relaxation: sleeping late in the morning, enjoying the calm of a quiet home, reading, watching "Prison Break," and doing little productive. It was fabulous really. Then about a week ago, I experienced a bit of an emotional fog. Let's see...how can I describe it? You know how sometimes it feels like you are walking through water? No matter how hard you try, you can only move in slow motion, trudging along as the rest of the world races past you at normal speed? Yeah, that's how it was. For about 48 hours. Perhaps that would still be going on, except this past Thursday I boarded a plane bound for Salt Lake City to spend six days with Shulamith while Matt is in New York.

Nothing like air travel to lift you out of the fog (figuratively AND literally!) and bring you back to the normal rush of life. As I made my way through airport security, it occurred to me how much has changed in the past ten years. It used to be that friends and family could accompany travelers through security, wait with them for their flights, and then say goodbye as they boarded the airplane. At the other end of the flight, others could be waiting at the gate, which made for some wonderfully romantic reunions. I remember the year Gerald and I were engaged. I went to Niagara Falls to visit my dad's relatives over spring break, and Gerald went to Alabama to visit his sister. When I landed back in Portland (nearest airport to Hermiston), we did one of those classic runs through the airport, falling into each other's arms.

No more.

These scenes have gone by the wayside, right along with in-flight meals and free checked baggage. Now we literally "lug" our luggage through the airport because we don't care to pay the ridiculous fees to check it. Clumsily, we lug it through security, as we put our liquids and gels into small ziplock bags, remove our shoes, and subject ourselves to embarrassing body scans. I'd be more sympathetic to all this fanfare if, in doing so, I felt one iota safer on the airplane. I don't. Regardless, I jump through the hoops along with everyone else because I have no choice. I need to fly, often, just about every month it seems.

We are now starting the fifth day of our six together. Tomorrow night I'll once again maneuver through the hassle of airport security and board a plane back to Billings. But we won't talk about that now. We still have two fun-filled days ahead. In the past four we have eaten lots of delicious food; found some excellent post-Christmas sales; watched one good movie (Hereafter); finished Season 3 of "Prison Break"; and spent a glorious morning with Matt's mom at the temple, followed by lunch at Olive Garden (Thank you, Dawn!).

And now, I'm learning so much from Michelle's calendar lesson. Not only do I know what day it is, but I also learned that yesterday was Sunday, and that tomorrow will be Tuesday. And I learned that this is the 74th day of school, which (by the way) is seven bundles of ten sticks plus four sticks by themselves. And I learned that it is snowing outside, and it is cold!

I'm not sure if ALL I really need to know I learned in Kindergarten. But I definitely learned a lot.