First time experience in over twenty years of flying… Preparations going on to receive a fallen soldier (in the hearse on the left) with full honors on the Tarmac.
There was something about the whole situation. Many fliers stopped and watched in silence… some saluted in respect before walking off to their own flights…
… when you are meeting more interesting people and creating more intersections than you are having time to write them down!! My bad, I did not get a chance to write this up…
Last week, I was in Portland for work. I took that opportunity to meet a very old runner friend – and by that I do not mean she is old – just that we have not run together for a long time. We used to run together in Atlanta almost ten years back. She moved to Salt Lake City and then to Portland.
I had seen from her FB friends that her parents had moved in with her and I asked her if all of us could go out for dinner together. She was – at that moment, at least – delighted by the idea. She then prepped me heavily – I was not to bring up the topic of when was she going to get married and settle down (she is unhitched still and they are Indian parents – you do the math) and I was not to talk about why Portland has a very rainy weather (her parents apparently would rather be in San Francisco where her brother is) and so on…
You know why I was grinning from ear to ear in the picture. Because I totally threw Reno (I forgot to mention her name – Ranjit alias Reno) under the bus in front of her parents. Apparently asking very seriously, “So, what are you thinking of around getting married?”, was all I needed to get her parents to instantaneously like me. And getting threats of bodily harm from Reno muttering under her breath.
The rest of the evening was awesome (from my perspective). Whenever I did not have anything else to say, I would go back to her finding a husband and her parents would jump in with total rejuvenation. Now, apparently, I am working on a June 30 deadline to find her a husband 🙂
In between those friendly ribbings though I got to know of Uncle’s very modest beginnings. Left India in 1967 and joined as a daily labor in Chicago. Carried on throughout his life as a blue collar worker. I was amazed at some of the sacrifices he and Auntie made throughout their lives to raise two great kids. HE talked about how some of his close friends came at the same time and rose thru the ranks of management but he stuck to the job he loved – although, financially, it was probably not the best choice. I was absolutely touched by his story and dedication to work.
It was almost a continuation of my spree of meeting parents in India a few weeks back. Of course, it is always great to see Reno. Although I am not sure she will be agreeing to see me next time, unless I drag in a potential suitor along with me 🙂
We had finished our hikes and were on the street hoping to get a drink and then dinner. But our youngest member Gublu wanted to eat some candy. And I promised him I would get him some. Which, in of itself, should have been a breeze if not for all the stores closing early in the evening in the sleepy town of Coeur d’Alene. However, Gublu and I marched on hoping to find a candy shop. And I am glad we did.
We eventually came to a store called Shenanigans which could have as well been named Kids’ Heavenland. They had all sorts of candy and icecream. All the adults and kids sat down. We bought a lot of candy and then we all had icecream. As the group huddled to enjoy their icecream, I peeled off to make friends with the young guy and girl at the counter.
Found out that Mallary and Sean were both from around the area and each had some really interesting life story. Unfortunately, I do not have Sean’s picture here since my iPhone crashed that night and I lost all local data. The picture you see here is the next day when all of us had breakfast at the same place where Mallary made some lovely crepes.
The most interesting story about Mallary was when I asked her if she was from the area. Turns out she was but she was moving to Alabama. My first question was how do you go from the picturesque North West Idaho to the other end of the country in Alabama? Found out she got married recently.
Which led to the next question – How did you meet a guy from Alabama in Idaho? It appeared that they actually met while vacationing in Florida. Not exactly while vacationing so much as in the plane. When, well not so much in the plane as waiting for the plane!! Apparently, they were sitting there waiting for their plane and they started a conversation which led to being Facebook friends which eventually led them to get closer as friends and eventually got married!! [It did make me think twice before sending her a FB invite myself – but I did it nonetheless 🙂 ]. I sure hope that she will open a crepe store in Alabama. They were delicious!!
Unfortunately, that day Sean was not there, because as luck would have it, the previous day was his last day in the store. From whatever I could gather from him the previous day, he is going to a local college (NIC). Loves languages, communication etc. As is my wont, I asked him what would he want to be when he grew up.
Sean was ready with the answer. He wants to start a company to produce movies and TV serials. Seems like he already has a couple of friends who is collaborating with him. They have their storyline written up already. I got an insider’s view from Sean about how the local geography in Coeur d’Alene and Spokane is perfect for most of the scenes they need to capture.
Delighted by the dual life stories of one – whose life got changed for ever waiting for a plane and another who is determined to make something of himself so early in his life…
The plane started rolling off the starting point on the runway. As it gathered momentum and pulled the wheels up, rapidly we could see River Columbia emerge to our left. A few seconds later, as we continued to gain height, something seemed to trigger some old memories as I looked down from the plane. Quickly took a few pictures of the sight and then waited to get Wifi access in the plane (after 10,000 feet).
A few minutes of research on my blog and sure enough – I figured out why the scenery looked familiar.
Notice the right bottom end – near the plane’s window edge, you can see the road. But between the road and the the river, if you carefully notice, there is a trail that goes along the river (this is the Oregon side; the other side is Washington).
Way back on Oct 20, last year, I had driven up to a trail head and started running. Eventually, I ran along the exact spot that you see in this picture. See the inset – and you can see the same bridge. I remember stopping multiple times to watch the planes fly very low as it approached the runway.
Today, I was on the other end!!
The plane took off southeasterly from Portland airport and then dipped south for a minute to then straighten up eastward wrapping around Mount Hood. And as it did that, there were a few incredible seconds where we were still under cloud cover to get a clear view of all the four peaks – Mount Hood in Oregon and Mount St.Helen, Mount Rainier and Mount Adams in Washington – all at once!!!
Apparently seeing is believing no more. This is in Dayton, OH. Note that the board helpfully points out that the flight to Detroit has been delayed from 10.21 am to 10.27 am. Funny part? It is 11:44 am now (see at he bottom of the board).
Even funnier? We are boarding now thru that gate. We are headed to Minneapolis!! The display as well as the sign above the door says “Detroit”!! I asked the gate agent as I boarded – “it says Detroit”. She nonchalantly said “I know” as she flagged me in to the plane.
This was one of those classic moments when, upon greeted by a ferocious looking dog relentlessly barking at me as I stood frozen at the gate of my friend’s house in Durgapur wondering what to do, my friend’s dad came out and reassured me the dog was harmless. In fact, his admonishing words were “Have you not heard that barking dogs seldom bite?”. I believe I had shot back with a “I have. Question is – has the dog heard it”?
I walked into the plane wondering “Does the pilot know?”
