TRAVELOGUE #1

When: Wednesday, June 14
Where: Somewhere over the Bering Straight

Last night around 1 AM I composed a letter to Asher while he slept opposite me at the kitchen table. My face was a waterfall of snot and tears. It was an honest, although not completely lucid letter. I expressed how excited and simultaneously scared to death I was about taking this trip. I said something about how these kinds of separations keep people from taking each other for granted. I said a couple more things too. Things you say just in case you die before you get the chance to see the people you love again. I hate having to do that.

I was just chatting to a nine year old boy around one of the emergency exit windows. Together we peeked at Alaska through the thick plastic sliding shade. Alaska was all decked out in mountains and glaciers; she looked fabulous. Pretty soon our view was obscured by cotton ball clouds. I turned to the boy, “Quick! Tell the pilot to drop altitude so we can see the view again!” And then I asked him if he had seen the International Date Line yet and if so what color was it? “White,” he lied.

Christ, I’m so very bored.