Monday Musings

It looked like a recipe for disaster.  And a bad outcome it was.  Two parents board the plane with a 14-month old child "Nadia".  The mother sits down with the child in her seat.  Dad next to her in the middle seat without any opinion because Mom wouldn't listen anyway.  I take a mental note.  Just a sippy cup of water.  A little canister of Gerber cereal things.  And Not One Thing To Do.  And Nadia let them know it wasn't acceptable.  By about six minutes after sitting down.  It escalated to a full-blown out-of-control situation.  A distinguished gentleman with an English accent just stood up and was walking towards "Mother of the Year" and she says "shut-up!" before he even says anything.  **lovely**.  Long story short.  Other parents came rushing over with Benadryl.  A little something to do.  And Finally.  FINALLY!  Nadia fell asleep about three hours into the flight.  We heard once in dog obedience class that there is no such thing as a bad dog.  Just bad training.  Well in this case, it wasn't Nadia's fault.  She was bored to tears (literally).  She was hungry.  She was a good kid. Just bad parenting.

So then it gets better.  There soon is an urgent call.  We need any medical personnel to report to the back of the plane.  A lot of people were involved.  A younger man looking like something was amiss.  And a few minutes later we started to descend (to our destination I thought).  A bit later the pilot came on and said we were dropping Mr. Sick Man off about 45 minutes from our final destination.  And I must admit, it almost was 'fun'.  Not for Mr.  Sick Man.  But for those of us on the plane.  Those pilots just dropped the plane down from 35,000 feet like a banshee and we were on the ground and Mr. Sick Man whisked off the plane by paramedics within moments.  Daughter #2 thought it was a joy.  To be able to experience more take-offs and landings was as good as Six Flags.  Well enjoy my dear...

I think my mean older brother is mellowing out with age.  Or he feels in the corner in case he gets really mean and I write bad things about him on this medium.  Or maybe it is because we are in the company of a very special someone that has been here with us.  Nonetheless, he has been nice and I was almost wishing for some good blog fodder.  Some insults.  But no.  Just talking about days past.  A few references about my 'horse teeth' I had as a child, but otherwise, kindness.  I hardly know how to act.  The special someone is usually south of the border helping others.  But this weekend he's been with us.  Relaxing.  Eating.  And sharing stories of his very special life.  It has been a privilege.

And having family in distant places is... well... hard.  You go about your business and get the e-mails and calls and ways to stay in touch.  But when you are together again it is wonderful.  And sad.  Because soon you'll be far, far away again and you realize what you are missing.  I miss my mean older brother.  I miss my sister-in-law that is exactly like a sister.  I miss these three big 'guys' that are growing into fine men.  But as we heard yesterday, they are blooming where they are planted, and that is where they are supposed to be.

Yesterday, the Chairman and I had a hike up the hill with their dog here.  She's a lovely middle-aged chocolate lab that walks off-leash most the time.  Came around the bend and there were two ladies walking dogs.  We in unison yell, "LISI!  LISI!".  Then the Chairman says to me 'what's her name?'  Takes me a split-second... 'Mocha'!  So we yell that name and all the while she's walking just fine and avoiding the people/dogs.  The one lady asks us, 'is that a stray?  You don't know who she is?'.  Um no.  We just couldn't come up with her name in our panic.

I better stop musing.  Just some early-morning musings since my brain refuses to switch time zones very quickly.