The Gift of Snow | 2.12.21

They cancelled my flight from Philly to DC, then opted to reroute. So instead, the drive down south was beautiful. Apparently the universe knew that I needed a minute. I would park & ride at Dulles.

I took back roads to avoid the corridor and found myself embracing the farmland of central PA.

We loved our road trips, didn’t we?

There was snow the entire way. Hanging thick in the trees of Maryland. Blanketing Virginia in a silent nod to the past and the future. 

What a gift to see scenery fly by in shades of white.

Getting to the airport was effortless. I was less stressed than I expected. Nothing to do but mask up / double up and follow the crowds. This would have terrified me when Peter was alive. So afraid of giving him Covid… for what? What’s a little pandemic when your cells are mutating and your organs fail. 

GO (verb) “move from one place to another”

PREPARATION (noun) “the things that you do or the time that you spend preparing for something”

FORM (noun) “bring together parts or combine to create (something)”

CHANGE (verb) “to make or become different”

VISTA (noun) “a pleasing view, especially one seen through a long, narrow opening”

REFINE (verb) “improve (something) by making small changes”

They packed us onto the plane but I got my window seat in the end. Perhaps I should have tried on my glasses with the N95 mask prior to flight, perhaps I should have fought harder for the JAB.

When the meal came, I ate it, when the light went on, I wrote, when my eyes got heavy I closed them. I haven’t had this much company in over a year. It is amazing how quickly we adapt.

All this life. Marching toward death. Hurtling through the sky together and so alone. A star for each ancestor. The universe holding our place. I don’t know if I will be coming home.