Your Flight Has Been Canceled!

I am in Park City visiting Robin.  Claire returned from India last Sunday.  Had lunch today with Robin, both Grace and Claire, and Robin’s friend Ruth.  Stimulating conversation with some of my favorite women.  Tonight we are going to dinner in Salt Lake City at The Wild Grape with Jim’s mother, Abbie, where Claire is going to distribute the gifts she brought home from India.  And tomorrow evening we are going, of course, to see the film The Way Way Back.  I am having a really wonderful time.  But it wasn’t easy getting here.

On Tuesday morning we were awaken to a phone call from Delta advising that my morning flight to Salt Lake City had been canceled and they had rescheduled me on a noon flight with a connection through JFK.

I hate to begin a flight heading the wrong direction.  In addition I was losing a half day of my visit.  The flight to JFK and shuttling to my departure gate was easy so I was optimistic.  But it was all downhill after that.  Plane came in late so boarding was about 20 minutes late.  Plane was totally full when it pulled away from the gate and got in line for take off.  It was very warm and the flight attendant asked us to be patient, that as soon as we lifted off they would turn on the air conditioning.  An hour and forty minutes later the captain advised there were still many planes ahead of us and they were working up a new flight pattern for us to avoid bad weather.  By that time everybody on the plane was dripping with sweat and in my efforts to mop my face I knocked one of my favorite red earrings out of my ear and watched it fall to the floor and bounce out of sight.  About five minutes later the plane began taxiing quickly non-stop.  My first thought was that we were heading back to the gate.  But not so.  When the plane stopped the Captain announced that we were taking off right now, and we did.

Yes, as soon as the wheels were up the air conditioning came on.  The new flight pattern did in fact avoid the turbulence, and it was an uneventful flight.  We arrived in Salt Lake City about 8:20 p.m., Robin and family were waiting for me, and we went directly out for dinner.  And yes, I did recover the earring.

I guess all’s well that ends well?