Some back door sights from the past week or so, though the sunshine is presently missing in action.
Swing time
June Doe
Back Door Caller
The moth was clinging to the back door screen last night just before I left for the airport at midnight to fetch Pierre. I don't know the symbolism of moths...are they harbingers of being drawn to one's unfortunate fate? On my Nervous Nellie style drive to the airport, I was temporarily dazzled by the bright lights of a car dealership and got confused about the freeway exit...was it leading to the dealership or the airport??? As I sailed right past it, I realized it led to both; I'd missed it and was now speeding along to Nova Scotia--another province altogether! Thanks to a previous lost experience I once shared with Kibby (en route to our Hookers Anonymous meeting, but that's another story) I had learned to quell my panic, practice the Art of Acceptance, and trust that I would somehow, sometime, hopefully before running out of gas, be able to find another exit that would head back in the right direction. After creeping along in the pitch black while cars and trucks whizzed by me, my heart thumping louder than a boombox bass, I eventually found my way onto a narrow, winding country road that held out the promise of wending its way towards the vicinity of the airport. Gradually, I began to recognize some landmarks and found the former entrance of the old airport--only to discover that it had no access whatsoever to the new terminal. So near and yet so far! I was tempted to climb the fence and run across the fields and tarmac but was hindered by my sprained ankle. Instead, I kept stalwartly driving on, without too badly hyperventilating, and discovered a sideroad that took me directly to the new airport's parking lot. I pulled in with a good 5 minutes to gather myself together before Pierre came strolling out of the arrivals area.
"Any trouble getting here?"
Moth - determination to travel through the dark with certainty until the source of light is reached. Much like a human seeking seeking an airport. But at least you didn't flutter against the door upon arrival . . . . did you?
ReplyDeleteNo, only my heart was fluttering!
ReplyDeleteDearest Lynne,
ReplyDeleteAs soon as I began reading I knew where you were headed and I wished I could have been by your side as I am only too well acquainted with how one feels at such times. From experience we know my value in these situations is derived not from any practical assistance that would lead to reaching the intended destination in a timely fashion but in the knowledge that a friend is close by who understands as only a fellow Ms. Adventurer can.
I myself never drive alone (other than to work and back and then only when no other alternative can be found) without making certain the gas tank is full (Mike’s responsibility) and that I’ve packed enough food and water for at least a full day. I exaggerate but only a little.
The swing where summer reading with feet up may happen ? Looks like you've got good company on four legs and on yellow wings...
ReplyDeleteLove your story here... jeez...you really write rather well, you know that ?!? Yes, I think you knew that... We are all on voyages in the night looking for a road to somewhere illuminated, somewhere where good people come walking up to us in airport halls with radiant smiles...
Onward through the fog !
Really great post there Ms Louciao Madlynne ! Can hear your boombox heart beating loud and clear !
I have learned the hard way that it is good counsel to always carry a map in the car. A good, updated one. My first year in Vienna I got lost so many times and found my way back thanks to an excellant map given out to new students. Every now and then I pass by one of those spots where I had been lost when I was new here. Now they are like memorials to the good old times and elicit a smile: Silly me, how could I get lost t h e r e ?
ReplyDeleteOh my dear Driftwood: What a valuable lesson I learned in your presence that day, bewildered together on the highway. Yes--Ms.Adventures! How true. But to be fair, they had changed the exit signs on us and rerouted the highway. I will take your advice to pack sandwiches and liquid refreshement next time, and a blanky. As for the gas tank--does one regard it as half full or half empty?
ReplyDeleteOwen: That is, indeed, the swing of reading/drinking/feet up pleasures (oh,that last sounds wrong!)...should summer ever show its shining face again around these hills.
ReplyDeleteI do love your analogy of how we are all on voyages in the night, etc. Thanks for showing up here, smiling through on my dark "pages."
Sweet Merisi: Such good, sane advice you offer--if I was any good at all at reading a map. I mean, I can read one in theory, and even explain to others with the map upside down, how to get from one place to another...but to decipher it in situ for myself??? All I can say is thank god I had a clever map-reader by my side in NYC last May or I might still be there trying to find my way out (which might not be such a bad thing!)
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy you found your way over here today!
Don't know why, but always loved to enter the house through the back door - probably even more than stepping through the front door.
ReplyDeleteCompared to live, well, don't know, maybe it is always worth to look back, finding many times surprises, like butterflies or short cuts...
Wish you a pleasant weekend.
LOL that you were on your way to Nova Scotia! Oh gosh, "any trouble getting here?" too much!
ReplyDeleteHello Robert: It seems that people in eastern Canada, or maybe it's rural Canada, always enter by the back door of a house. I grew up out west and out there we always came in through the front door. It was a challenge to get to the back door if you were visiting...usually involving unlatching gates. And in the east, people sit on their front porches and watch the world pass by, while out west, people sit on their back porches and gaze at their own back yards. There's probably some cultural significance to this, but I'm too lazy to contemplate it.
ReplyDeleteHi Rain: I know someone who actually got all the way to Cape Breton rather than Halifax, they were so deeply involved in a discussion while driving!
ReplyDeleteLOL...oh gosh, when you hit the Canso Causeway, you'd have to REALLY be in deep conversation not to notice you've gone the wrong way, ha ha!
ReplyDeleteWhat you said to Robert...I've noticed that people like to sit out front around here too, I'm definitely a backyardigan! I come and go through the front door, but prefer to spend time in the privacy of my own yard!