Flying High Again

Hey there!   Did you miss me?  I haven’t been here much the past few weeks, because my husband and I have been out of town enjoying precious time with family (yay for the retirement life!).  About a week ago, we returned from an action-packed 12-day trip: first we flew down to visit a couple of my husband's siblings in sunny FL, and from there out to OK to spend a week with our youngest son and his bride of 18 months.

We had a ball hanging out at an open-air beach bar, 
enjoying the fresh air, sunshine—and some cold beer!

 

Brunch at our son's country club--la did da!

I love this boy!

We had a two-leg trip down to FL, then two legs out to OK, and finally two legs on the return trip home.  Most of the airports we walked through to make our connections resembled ghost towns.  It’s so strange...being married to a commercial airline pilot (who took an early retirement last Sept., after 32 years of flying for the same major airline), I’ve spent an awful lot of time in bustling airports, both at home and abroad.  I hadn’t flown since last Feb., when I accompanied my husband on a working trip to Rome just before the first “15 days to flatten the curve” lockdown started.  And it was eye-opening to see how Covid has changed the face of air travel—just as it has changed the face of humanity, with the ongoing mask mandates. 

Our youngest son is following in his father’s footsteps: he flies for a regional airline, hoping to get on with one of the majors as soon as possible.  He was a relatively new captain when the virus hit and people stopped traveling, and although he didn’t get furloughed, thank goodness, he did spend the past year downgraded to co-pilot.  Not too long ago, he was upgraded back to captain, which gives me hope for the travel industry in general and my hardworking pilot son, a father of five, in particular.

I love this boy, too!

On a recent trip, a young passenger gave our boy a thank you note (written on a paper airplane—how adorable is that?) as he was getting off the plane.

I second this 8-year-old’s opinion that anyone who doesn’t appreciate what an airline pilot does is either “meen” or “krasy.”  😁 As a mostly recovered white-knuckle flyer, I depend on their unique skills to get me safely where I want to go, and they are all superheroes in my book.

Let’s hope and pray that we’ll all be flying high again soon—whether that means actually flying, or going to school in person, or sitting in the crowded stands at a football game, or even just smiling at strangers on the street, unmasked and unafraid...

Okay, that's it for me today.  But you might want to check out Rosie's link-up, Just Because (just because there are a lot of interesting bloggers out there whom you might not have "met" yet!).

P.S.  Happy St. Patty’s Day!  ☘️ I’ll tell you all about how we celebrated Ireland’s patron saint tomorrow!