Sitting on the plane awaiting takeoff. So annoying...this wait time.

    I sit, buckle my belt, fiddle with the air. It's so hot in L.A. I can't wait to get to cooler climbs. I have a four-hour layover in Seattle. Ugh. At last I'll have ample time to dig into my Raymond Chandler book. I hope it's good -- I haven't read a mystery in a long time.

    Now we're taxiing. Take-offs and landings kind of scare me. Course there's nothing I can do about that. You either fly or you don't.

    T. came and waited with me at the airport. I hate those goodbye's. It sucks because you give them a hug and a kiss, say your I'll miss yous and your take cares and you turn around to go but someone in front of you is messing with their ticket and you get stopped. So, you're standing there, three feet away and probably separated by some velvet rope and smiling at each other feebly, maybe tearfully.

    Getting picked up at the gate can be equally frustrating. You might be able to see them while you're still in that tunnel. You smile -- maybe wave and then inch along with bags behind somebody with strollers and sleeping children. Then you have to fight your way through all the people that thoughtlessly stop right at the end to hug and scream and cry. Only then, finally, in a tangle of bags (and, if you're lucky, flowers) you hug and kiss and say your I missed yous and your It's good to be backs.

    Still taxiing.

    The next time I'm back in L.A. I'll be married, off the market, sold to slavery. Maybe. I make no promises.

    And, we're off!

...continued

12:30 p.m.

    I really must learn to fly, to be a pilot. The topography of the land is really amazing. The quilting of the farmlands, the patient curves of the mountains. Makes me feel small. It really makes me realize that we're just guest of this planet. Pretty unruly guests at that. We leave our wet towels in a heap on the bathroom floor, dirty dishes in the sink and eat everything in the fridge without shopping for more. And then, to top it off, we invite our other friends over without asking.