Part Five: Departure again

The next morning, there was no time to mope. I was rushing around doing last-minute packing. I decided to take a cab to Newark Airport. What I didn’t realize was that it would take so long and cost so much. How much? $70. Yowza. I’ll remember to figure that in next time I’m booking a flight.

Anyway, traffic was slow. Then the line at Northwest Airlines was so long! I finally used the machine to check in, and it didn’t recognize me. The woman at the counter informed me that I wasn’t booked. I showed her my itinerary, and she replied that my Northwest flight by Alliant was flown by Continental, which was in a different terminal. I sprinted to the AirTrain, made it to the next terminal, then (near tears) asked for help at the Continental desk. They called the plane to tell them I was coming. I sprinted over to security, which I got through in record time. I managed to get on the flight just before the attendant closed the door. I flew to Memphis, then to Iowa. Yay! I made it home safely, but (Surprise!) my luggage didn’t. That’s three times in a row that my luggage hasn’t made it from New York to Iowa.

Mom picked me up and took my for ice cream. Then we met up in town and Dad took me home so Mom could donate blood. I was so happy to see my parents. I’d really missed them. Back on the farm, I played fetch with the dogs and petted the cat. It was a gorgeous day, the sky achingly blue. My favorite flowers, lilacs, were in full bloom. Their scent was so heavy on the breeze you could get drunk off of it.

In honor of the headiness of spring, enjoy this poem by Hayden Carruth:

Lilac Time

The winter was fierce, my dear,
Snowy and blowy and cold,
A heart-breaker and record-breaker,
And I am feeble and old.

But now it is lilac time.
Come out in the sweet warm air,
Come and I'll gather flowers
To put in your beautiful hair.

Let's make a bouquet of lilac
For our old bedside table.
Then the fragrance in the night
Will make me form-i-dable.

--Hayden Carruth (b. 1921)