2024 Life Logs, Day 218: Home Sweet Home
Date: Monday, August 5, 2024
Weather: Sunny; High Temp 83, Low 71 degrees F
Location: Back Home on Lakeview, Falmouth, MA
I don’t remember ever being so happy to be home. It was a tough ten days in North Carolina. Three nights sleeping in my sister’s living room on her recliner so I could observe her nighttime sleeping patterns, the next night in her bed while she was in ER with a fractured femur, 3 nights in an Airbnb close to the hospital so I could be with her from early morning to late at night, then 3 nights at my nephew Tommy’s home. The whole time, my back was telling me I needed to be home in my own bed. And I am getting ready to do just that.
Yesterday’s experience at the Charlotte airport was a true horror story with the worst part for me being the distance I had to walk with a small backpack on my back while pulling my carry-on bag. Once I knew my flight was cancelled, I scrambled to find another flight online while walking from one airline to another. All of my efforts were for naught as there no flights to Boston to be had. Hundreds of people were in lines half the length of the ticketing part of the airport which this morning my phone told me is 8/10ths of a mile. With Heather and Jed’s help, we were able to book one of the last seats available today, so this morning I started the trek all over again. I checked in all the way at one end of the ticketing area and then had to walk all the way to the other end because all of the other security check points were closed because there were so many people already in their lines. Then I had to walk for 20 minutes to get to my gate. I already knew my 10:59 flight was delayed until 11:42, but luckily there were no further delays. When I got to Boston, it took me only 7 minutes to get from my gate down to ground transportation and out to the scheduled bus pick-up location. The Charlotte airport has become my most unfavorite place in the world. It is just a ridiculously long walk from check in to gate. But unfortunately, when my sister is released from rehab and goes back to assisted living, I will have to fly in and out of Charlotte again. I am not looking forward to that.
I arrived in Boston at about 1:50. There was a 2 o’clock bus to Falmouth, but by the time we de-planed and I got out to the bus stop, it was about 5 after. I was too late and the next bus to Falmouth was at 4 pm. So, I texted friends to see if someone could pick me up in Sagamore. Karen Baranowski and Bruce Woodin offered, but Bruce couldn’t be there by the time I arrived. So, Karen won the lottery, battled the bridge traffic, and came to get me. Thank you, friends, for being there for me.
After playing outside with Shadow and making a trip to the supermarket, I have spent the whole evening sitting on the couch watching the Olympics with Shadow. I have missed Shadow so much and it is wonderful to be home with him.
