Life is a fascinating thing, one moment you are in stress working on your Bachelor’s degree, struggling to put together data analysis, developing a presentation and preparing for a trip to Ireland.  All while watching your beloved companion of 11 years getting ready to move on to his next life time.

A world filled with stress, accomplishment and life.  The, out of nowhere, a hurricane decides to make its presence known and you find yourself rushing to try to escape the country to a trip of a lifetime prior to what should be accomplishment and celebration turns into disappointment and failure.   As they say, you can’t control the weather so you might as well sit back and enjoy the world during the storm.

Craziness, complexity, coaxing and charm then a trip moved up to a day earlier and the ability to compromise while staying calm.  A trip down the mountain, a 3 hour nap (if you sleep at all), and a wish and a beg to get into a seat in the back of the plane.  As you wave goodbye to first class can you be grumpy or angry?  Ecstatic or delirious that you even got on the plane?

Are you where you should be or are you trying to make the impossible possible through some string and spit instead of with bricks and mortar?  (and for some reason this takes me back to my freshman year in high school and Mr. Shoop giving me a plaque that reads, “If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them. “  Henry David Thoreau ).

So, I get on the direct flight, instead of the one through Kansas City (thank you travel gods and goddesses), a back of the plane window seat.  In most instances, this is my version of hell.  But, the sweet flight attendant had gotten me checked in early enough that I was able to carry on my luggage (seriously, 15 days in Ireland during the winter with carry-on luggage.  I think there should be some time of an award for that).

Next to me in the middle seat was an OBGYN who was just coming back from a conference on sexual dysfunction in women.  Now, the man sitting in the aisle was a bit embarrassed with a slight flush to his cheeks.  However, he then started to share his marital issues with his second wife.  This included how often he had sex (5 times in the last couple of years).  Sadly, he then closed down when electronics were allowed to be used and started to watch a movie.  But, then Kathy and I started to talk about physiology and psychology and a pleasant 4 hours later I get to Philadelphia on direct rather than through Kansas City.  A blessing in the end as the plane would have landed an hour after I took off to Ireland.

Now 6 hours to gather stories and moments.  Some wine, good food, and a massage is on my list of activities.  From a clerk at Brighton’s talking rugby and an emergency response coordinator from NY and a medical student in Florida, the world travels on.