time travel

I've said it before and I'll say it again:

time is weird

I left Tbilisi on Thursday at 9:20 am. 

A 5 hour 30 minute plane ride put me in Paris at 11:50am

We left Paris at 1:20pm

An 8 hour flight arrived in Boston at 4:20pm.

We left Boston at 8:10, anticipated arrival 10:48.

I had done the math before the trip began. We should arrive in Grayson by 1:30am.

Arriving at the airport 3 hours before initial departure,

22 hours of flight time and layovers,

add 2 1/2 for the drive home and that makes for a marathon level of travel.

The unexpected gift of no passengers in the two seats to my right on the 8 hour flight made a 2 hour nap possible. I think God multiplied that rest by 3. It gave me energy to walk from terminal E where I arrived in Boston to terminal A where the flight to Cincinnati took off from, without feeling like I wasn't going to make it.

It also made me confident I could stay awake and keep Jonathan company while he drove me home. I know his days start early and he probably did not get a nap.

Before we took off from Boston the pilot warned us it was going to be a bumpy ride, storms threatened and there might need to be adjustments made to the flight pattern.

There were bumps, but not nearly as many as I was prepared for, based on periodic communication from the cockpit.

We did not have to divert and the plane landed, safely, in Cincinnati, 5 minutes early.

The storm intensified as we touched down.

The pilot made another announcement:

"With the storm and lightening the ground crew is sheltering inside. There is no one to help us park the plane. We will have to sit tight. There is a slight possibility there may be a window of opportunity soon, but there has to be no lightening for 10 minutes...If we miss that chance we will be sitting here for awhile." 

Until last night I never knew a pilot needed help to park a plane.

I prayed.

I texted my kids and asked them to pray.

I didn't think my behind could take much more of plane sitting.

Waiting makes time drag. 

30 minutes that felt more like hours, then this:

"It looks like there may be a break.

I am turning the seatbelt sign back on.

I am powering up the engines so we are ready if it's possible."

This guy needs a raise.

He and the other members of the ground crew made it happen.

The pilot could park the plane and we could be our way.

I recalculated, it was going to be closer to 2am before we arrived in Grayson.

I was beyond happy to see Jonathan, 

even before he insisted on taking my backpack.

He'd been waiting inside the airport so long he knew exactly where we needed to head to get my checked bag off of the carousel. We watched as luggage passed us by. Nothing looked familiar. 10 minutes or more we watched. Still nada.

An announcement over the airport intercom:

"We are sorry, but the storm has made it impossible for the ground crew to finish unloading the plane. Please be patient."

The next 45 minutes was loooong.

Jonathan was patient.

Kind.

Unruffled.

We didn't get to leave the airport until almost the time I had originally planned to be home, headed to bed. The storm put on quite a light show as he drove me to Grayson and then went on to his house. Our day ended at 4am, with thanksgiving for travel mercies.