Lazy, disembodied day

Dec. 24: S.'s plane finally arrived at 1:30 a.m. this morning. The whole trip was confusing and irritating to him. All airline personnel, from clerks to flight attendants, had no information about anything, all day long. I got the same feeling from my end. From 11:30 p.m. on, I kept calling the departure and arrival hot line every 10 minutes, and kept hearing the recorded estimated time of departure from Atlanta to be 10 or 15 minutes in the future. After midnight, I wasn't sure whether to punch in "today" or "yesterday" when prompted about the flight. It was supposed to have left "yesterday" but hadn't, so was it now a "today" flight? "Yesterday" triggered the information that the plane had departed at 1:10 a.m.; however, it was now only 12:35 a.m., so I switched to "today" and kept hearing of the postponements.

At 12:45, I called S's cell phone and was told it was "out of range", so I had the feeling the plane had departed from Atlanta. This, plus the recorded "estimate" that it would leave at 12:40. I roused L. from his sleep and we drove to the airport. He waited in the car while I went in, hoping for some genuine information from a living human or an information screen. Not one airpline person was working throughout the whole terminal, not one! The information screens had no reference to any incoming flights! Now I was really getting nervous. Using my cellphone, I called the hotline once more, and that trustworthy recording now said that the plane HAD DEPARTED ATLANTA!!! Was estimated to ARRRIVE IN SAVANNAH at 1:49 a.m.

When the plane was finally announced and the passengers flocked into the waiting area, I scanned the crowd, fearing, of course, that S. somehow missed the plane. What a relief to see that reddish hair and thin, firm frame in the distance, with his distinctive walk. We got home at 2:15 a.m., and I cooked him an instant pizza and gave him a cold beer. We talked briefly, but I'm not a night person. I fell into bed at 3 a.m. I haven't been up that late since about 1968. This morning, I heard L. roll out, late, and rush around getting ready for his work, but I was able to fall back asleep. The cat bothered me a few more times, but I was able to shoo him away and doze off. 10 o'clock! I haven't slept that late since I can't remember when, probably the '60's.

I've felt jet-lagged today. After coffee, I drove to Wal-Mart to stock up while S. slept like a rock. Later, P., S. and I went to the mall just to walk around. P. isn't a huge talker, but S. is. He can start a conversation about anything and talk non-stop until the end the day, flowing from one subject to the next,never running out of thoughts. When S. is around, P. sits back and listens, as I do too. We're listeners more than talkers, so it works out well.