More from the Road

[[Written on the train into the city]]

I got off the plane & of course needed to make a pitstop and also to put on more clothes, since it's about 50 degrees colder here than in Austin!

I was trying to decide whether I needed a sweater AND my coat, or just my coat, so I asked the lady that was cleaning the bathroom. She smiled and said, "You say slowly, please, I have very little English" so I did and we had a very pleasant conversation, concluding that my coat was sufficient. I said, "Thank you!" and she said, "You're welcome!" and then got very excited that that had just popped out so easily! I told her she did very well, and off I went, in my coat.

Okay, people look at me in airports. I'm not sure why. Today I thought it might be my clothing... If you know me at all you know that I rail against the idea that winter clothes should be dark and drab. What I'm wearing is a direct outcome of that distaste: purple corduroy pants, a pink oxford shirt, and a bright pistachio green parka. I love it, but I suppose it does stand out! But really, people look at me anyway, I think, even when I'm wearing my travel "uniform" of black skirt & top from Chico's.

I love to travel. I LOVE airports. Love them. Always have. And I especially love coming to Chicago. I know my way around just a bit, and I absolutely *adore* that I can get off the airplane and get on a train, which takes me into the city for $2.25. This is the way things are supposed to be!

Also I just love walking through airports. I love watching all the different types of people go by. I wonder at this incredible, complicated system that takes people all around the world. I'm amazed by all the places you can go, just strolling down the concourse.

Sometimes Husband and I will be waiting for a flight somewhere, and we'll see that the plane at the next gate is headed somewhere else, and we'll joke about getting on that one instead... One of these days we're going to do just that!

What I also love about travel and airports, is that for me it is always a happy occasion. Either I'm going someplace fun, with Husband or meeting him or meeting friends, or I'm going home from someplace fun or seeing people I love. And both sides of that coin are wonderful! Going is wonderful, and Home is wonderful!

So when I walk through airports, especially if I've just gotten off the plane, I tend to be grinning like an idiot, looking around, and making eye contact with people. So perhaps this is the reason I feel that they are looking at me, because I am looking at them. Who knows? And I'm happy and content, so I don't care if they are wondering what's up with the gal with the goofy grin!