Layover

Posted on by Linda

I’m sitting at my departure gate in the Calgary airport waiting for the connecting flight from Regina that will take me to Kamloops, where I’m spending a few days with my daughter and granddaughter and enjoying a visit with my bestie.

I’ve positioned myself facing a window onto the tarmac. There’s no snow. It seems like a respite from mid-January Saskatchewan winter and a reminder that our bleak midwinter shall pass, eventually. I didn’t pack a coat. I’m just wearing a long-sleeved shirt under a vest. And my feet are comfortable in Birks. I didn’t bring my Blundstone boots either. I feel free.

I was lost in a book between Regina and here. The opportunity for uninterrupted reading is something I like about air travel. What I didn’t appreciate was the extra screening I had to go through when going through security. I got the deluxe treatment—the full body pat down. Once upon a time, it would have irritated me. It’s not worth the energy. I try to remind myself not to sweat the small stuff. Sometimes, I’m successful and letting things go. Today was one of those times.

I hear the chatter of business people waiting to board—robbed of their Sunday day of rest by travel. There will be more of them when I return home midweek. Every time I fly these days, I see and hear them, and silently acknowledge the sacrifice they make for the sake of their careers. I’m grateful that I’m traveling as a grandma and no longer one of them. Been there. Done that. Glad those days are over.

They just announced that my flight has been delayed. Thankfully, it’s my last one today, so no worries about a connection. I feel bad for those who will be impacted. I’ve been one of those running like a madwoman through an airport to make a connecting flight after a delay. I’m too old for that nonsense now.

I’ll wrap this up and return to my book now. (I’m reading All the Little Monsters: How I learned to Live With Anxiety by David A. Robertson. He read an excerpt from it pre-publication at the Saskatchewan Festival of Words in Moose Jaw last summer. It was released this week. I recommend it if you, or someone you love, deals with anxiety.)

Hope you’re enjoying your Sunday. I may pop back in while I’m in Kamloops. Or not.

4 thoughts on “Layover”

  1. Hi Linda! It’s Alan Anderson here of InScribe Christian Writers” I can relate to your travel post in a big way. A symptom of my neuropathy condition is anxiety. I have to keep it in check. My daughter and her family had to move to Windsor, Ontario a couple years ago. My wife and I have to fly in order to visit them. Our flight experience last summer with West Jet was a total pain both ways. From now on I will have to stay calm and not allow the irritating “unscheduled maintenance issues” bother me as much.

    I hope your time in Kamloops with your daughter and granddaughter is joyous for you. By the way, my wife is from Kamloops.

    Blessings to you, Linda!
    Alan

    1. Hi Alan! Good to hear from you. I can certainly relate to dealing with those “unscheduled maintenance issues” and other delays. Flying is not without it’s headaches, but I’m glad the option is there when our family lives so far away.

  2. I was one of those career people who flew the early morning flight from Edmonton to SK on many occasions. I had it down to a science…when to arrive at the airport so I just needed to get in-line to board the plane. 🙂 And I’m now happy to travel leisurely as a grandma, too! Happy travels!

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