Sunday, July 31, 2005

I am in a plane flying

I am in a plane flying over the Pacific Ocean. The journey to Hawaii began with Devin driving me in his natural gas powered white pick up truck with his big yellow Labrador Retriever, Scout, on the floor at my feet. The ride to LAX took about 2 hours and 20 minutes with several pockets of traffic pushing the old “will I miss the plane?" button. It turned out fine. I checked in, waited in line to put my rucsack thru the x-ray machine, went thru security and had an hour to spare before my scheduled departure time of 6:25 PM on Hawaiian Air.

The last moments on the estate were slightly tense for me as I am caught between 2 opposing forces. The guests want to stay past check out time, lounge by the pool and savor the supreme sense of well-being. After over 12 hours of intense yoga one has the tendency to be totally free of the typical sense of time. The feeling of being hurried is gone. There is only the moment. What better place to spend it than a cool blue pool. Understandably, Bill wants his house back and so he pressures me to pressure the guests. This particular last day of the retreat is further complicated by the fact that Bill has his sister and other family members coming by at 2:30 along with me having to catch my flight out of LAX.

I’ll be staying on Oahu on the North Shore with my sister, Elizabeth, and her family for the next 25 days. My brother, Brian, lives a mile or 2 up the road with his family. Brian and I plan on playing tennis and surfing.

The flight went very smoothly. The flight attendants continually patrolled the aisles, offering booze, water, headphones, a meal and pretzels. They also made many trash collecting laps around the plane. I wonder if there is a method to all the serving activity. I presume that this continual distribution of refreshments and such is designed to create a relaxed atmosphere and alleviate the natural fear and anxiety that might arise. All these people crowded together in a small tube precariously defying gravity thousands of feet above the ocean. We hit a few pockets of turbulence but quite minimal. The jostling reminded me that I was in a plane while the movie: “Guess Who” played over the small flat screens. It worked for me. Made the time go faster. I give it 2.2 stars out of 5.

My brother-in-law, Roberto will be picking me up in a big black pick up truck.