Journal
The Steps
There is a man to my left. We were facing each other but offset. Both sitting on steps – like the kind that lead up to a college or a public building. White stone, small risers with wide steps. We weren’t talking but we weren’t strangers. It was a comfortable silence, as if we were […]
Isle de los Captivas
Waiting for the boat to Upper Captiva, I saw an angel in tennis shoes standing on the dock with a foot locker. I asked the angel to share the shade of the Chickee Hut with me. We sat, side by side at the picnic table. Silently looking out at the water in the same direction. […]
Liberty
The horn blows one long. Ships’ bell rings. Liberty, Liberty, Liberty. Grab your Black Seal rum and put your dress flags on. Roll up your wake and run bareboat with me. Unlace the lines, let them fall down the back of the deck. Pleasure boat would you give me the pleasure of your company? […]
A Suitcase of Serendipity
Open a chart. Find a place. See a picture without a face. Follow a back, back in time. Turn a question over in your mind. Connect the dots across a map. Turn around and retrace your steps. Climb up your family tree, to get a clearer view. Why do we travel to the places we […]
Fort Myers
I fly with the Flying Circus’s full of fabulous freaks like me, fellow captives, captivated by the “greatest job in the world.” Welcome to the big show ladies and gentlemen. Step right up, don’t be shy. All shapes and sizes are welcome to apply. We have daredevils, acrobats, strongmen, high-fliers, and clowns of renown. […]
Naples
I am the great grand-daughter of a teacher, who’s mother was the daughter of a teacher, who’s daughter grew up to be a teacher, and now is the Aunt of yet another. My Irish family tree buds teachers from every branch, and drops at least one of them to earth each generation. The grandfather I […]
Sarasota
My ears ring tonight as they will more and more. Flying passengers on tour with FiFi my world is always loud but no one sound seems to stand out. Instead they all roar in my head at once, clinging to each other in their urgency and volume. My intercomm competes with the wind and the […]
Taking Care
When I travel on a cross-county I spend a lot of evenings in bookstores, used bookstores when I can find them. It’s a bit of a ritual. I try to find St Exupery’s section, see if they have anything beyond Wind, Sand, and Stars and buy a copy of The Little Prince. I store them in […]
Ten Flying Lessons
A NASA report is a paper confessional, an anonymous form for pilots to send a mea culpa to the FAA through the Aviation Safety Reporting System, protecting us from prosecution if we break a regulation. It doesn’t offer forgiveness if we’ve been intentional, criminal, or habitual offenders, just when we make an honest mistake and own up […]
A Conscious Conscience
What happens to one, happens to everyone. Winter storms storm across the southeast. A beautiful young women booked on a Delta flight to Tampa is rerouted through Detroit. Her anger builds in waves as she pounds on her cellphone keyboard, seething inside. She storms up to the gate agent and demands to be compensated for […]
