Our plane backed away from the gate at 4:45pm, 10 minutes ahead of schedule...we're off to a good start! As the wheels left the pavement, I squeezed Jij's hand and stared out of the window to contain my excitement. A whirl of thoughts whizzed around my mind..."what's it all going to look like, feel like, sound like, smell like...what will we do and see, what will we eat!" Realizing that all the research and speculating in the world wouldn't answer those questions, I went back to staring out of the window. At that very moment, just below me, right there through that tiny window lay a grand view of the Golden Gate's towers shroud in fog, that view we have all seen on the cover of a San Francisco coffee table book. I waved a happy goodbye to the fog and was reminded to stay in the moment. So there I was on a plane...for 9 hours!!! While Jij spent his time watching one movie after the next, I managed to watch the moving map for nearly 6 hours with only minimal distraction. If that isn't staying in the moment, then I'm not sure what is! So 9 hours of travelling left me with 3 realizations:
1. Unable to resist a flip through the guidebooks, I realized that there is SO much to see and do in these 6 weeks that I can't possibly do it all. SO...I might as well enjoy each moment as it comes (what a relief!)
2. My twice hourly peeks out of the window (to much of the rest of the planes chagrin as each time I opened the window a huge glow of light went gleaming into everyone's sleepy eyes) proved that the sun never set. Why was it light @ 2:45 am in the Hudson Bay?? If you can explain that one in layman's terms then please do.
3. In thinking about this first stop, England, to visit family, I thought about grandparents (some who have passed and some who are aging). I felt sad to not be seeing those who have passed and began to dwell, as usual, on the reality that visits never seem long enough. As I wrote this I had tears in my eyes and a small pang in my heart but knew that soon I would be with my grandparents and, no matter the amount, that the time would be fully enjoyable and cherished. What a great way to begin our trip :)
So may we all cherish the memories and the moments and appreciate all of those we love whether near or far...
(Unfortunately, due to my error I managed to erase the photos from the camera from this first short section. So we will have to use our imaginations to put images to this post. Hopefully I won't do that again!)