“Thirteen
months to the day since Gandalf sent us on our long journey, we found ourselves
looking upon a familiar sight. We were home.”
Whether
one is gone one week, two weeks, four weeks, or more, there is nothing quite
like the sight of home. There is a comfort in climbing into your own bed and being
in your own space.
When
I left my hotel in Venice, I was chuckling because there it was November 1, and
they were playing Christmas music, though truthfully there are certain songs I
crave to hear throughout the year.
I
need to make a note to myself that the Venice passport control point doesn’t
open until nine, which means I don’t need to rush to get to the airport!
Once
I hit Philadelphia and cleared TSA, I decided that I have a name for my travel
memoirs, along the lines of the Perils of the Black Woman Traveler: The TSA
Hair Pat Down. I am not sure what it is about my hair and TSA, but the hair
pat down…I don’t get. Then there is the occasionally hair sweep. If I didn’t
think it was so funny, I might be very annoyed about it. What exactly would I
be smuggling in my hair? Diamonds? To be fair, it isn’t only black women who
get the hair pat down. My coworker who has bushy hair gets the same thing, and
she is white.
The
long flight across the Atlantic wasn’t so bad. I watched six episodes of the
Big Bang Theory for two hours. I watched Think Like a Man Too, Maleficent, and
Sex Tape and that was another five hours. So time felt like it was going fast.
Oh, and by the way, Angelina Jolie’s cheekbones. Wow!
My
flight to Seattle that was scheduled to arrive at 9:00 p.m. arrived at 8:10.
Score! Thanks to Denise and Byron for picking me up! I
managed to stay up until 11:00 though because of fall back it was 10:00. I
slept very well last night. I wasn’t up, up until about 6:00.
There
is a point in time when you are driving I-5 North and then downtown Seattle
opens up. That moment always catches my breath. This is home.
