Category Archives: Travel

Aircraft movement

Still sat the plane
at the gate,
wheels chocked,
jet bridge attached,
going nowhere.

I gazed at the
screen in the seat in front of me,
where complimentary Direct TV service
would play,
entertaining me with visual delights.

But “due to aircraft movement”
by the chocked-wheels,
attached-to-the-jet-bridge
aircraft going nowhere
the service was not available.

And I wondered at the cause:
had a crew member set a wrong switch?
Did sensors somewhere think the plane was moving?
The more I wondered, the less, I wanted to know.
I fell asleep.

3 October 2011
CO 1575

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Filed under Poem, Travel

Mismatched names

The printer whirred and spit out my boarding pass. My heart sank as I read the name. Mark. The name everyone knows me by, but not my first name. Not the name on my ID.

Trouble lies ahead, I thought. Visions of becoming far better friends with a TSA agent than I ever desired danced through my head. I paused and looked at the pass.

Finally realizing that no other options existed, I pulled my driver’s license from my wallet and handed it, along with the boarding pass, to the gate attendant. Who took a look, checked off the pass and took my bag. The folks at security screening said nothing either.

Four times on this trip – twice going and twice coming, the process repeated. Only once did someone notice the mismatch of the names. Only once did I have to show additional identification – and a credit card sufficed.

While I appreciated the lack of hassle, it made me wonder. I will take care to make sure it does not happen again (others purchased the ticket for me). But I still wonder.

See you along the Trail.

3 October 2011
CO 1575

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Filed under Antiracism, Travel

Cold night in Wooster town

The damp cold seeps
into his bones,
makes muscles ache,
and sinews moan,
Stirred by the pain,
but half awake,
he reaches out
across the grate,
hunting warmth and
seeking comfort.
Finding no one,
he sighs deeply,
shivers once, twice,
then tightly curls
into a ball,
pulls closer the
tattered blanket,
and tries to find
sleep yet once more.

1 October 2011
Wooster, Ohio

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Train to DC

Sometimes the Trail
we travel by rail.
I Amtraked today from NYC to DC
second time I took the train
a pleasant experience
of course it would have been far more pleasant
had the day not started at 3:00 in the blessed A.M.
Photo – near Newberg, OR
October, 2009

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Filed under New York, Photo, Travel

TV, laundry, burgers, small critters

I am not a big television fan. I watch very little. But Men of a Certain Age  is on at the moment. It is a reminder that I could watch Andre Braugher read the phone book. I don’t get it all – it’s a bit hard joining a series at the last episode of the season and having a sense of the back stories and how things have come to where they are. But Braugher’s performance caught and held my attention.

Homicide: Life on the Street is the one series I have watched from beginning to end – using Netflix to help me do that. And I did that primarily for Braugher although the whole cast was amazing.

Today was another slow moving day. When we finally got moving, we drove to Greeley. We stopped for lunch at a restaurant called Good Time Burgers – they also served custard – which probably helped absorb the grease from the burgers. They were OK, by no means were they the best burgers I have ever eaten (of course they did not claim to be).

Fort Vasquez was the next stop. It was a trading post – furs, beaver and buffalo, were the featured item. The traps looked particularly brutal. Then made it to Greeley. Drove around the town a bit and then checked in to the Days Inn – where Tricia did the laundry. We went to dinner with Sue Brown and a bunch of her friends from the Presbytery of Plains and Peaks.

Tomorrow night – Estes Park. The last time I was in Estes Park was 10 years ago when the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program held a seminar there and I led a workshop. I drove to seminar and around the town and the YMCA of the Rockies. I am embarrassed to say that, in the process, I struck a number of small animals. I will try to be more careful this time – maybe even much more careful to paraphrase Captain Jack Sparrow.

See you along the Trail.

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115

This is the 115th post for 2011. With this post, the number of posts for 2011 (to date) equals the number of posts for 2010. That’s the whole point of this post.

For good measure, it includes a picture from Pikes Peak. It’ll do.

See you along the Trail.

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Filed under Photo, Travel

Colorado Springs – 4 July 2011

Vacation day 1.

Well technically not. Since it was July 4, it actually counted as a holiday.

The holiday was spent in Colorado Springs and included:

Sleeping in! Always a good thing whether on vacation or on holidays or on any days.

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo: many giraffes, lots of pine cones, naked mole rats, wallaby petting, the Mountaineer Sky Ride – just a bit scary, the Will Rogers Shrine of the Sun and more. The entrance fee included a quarter to give to support efforts to protect an animal. There were six possibilities – I picked the African Penguin.

Garden of the Gods: lots of red rock, some hiking, many pictures.

A good day – sore feet, sore knees, sore back – we will see what works tomorrow when the vacation actually begins.

See you along the Trail.

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What passes for vacation

The Trail led to Denver today – after some last meetings in Indianapolis.

We arrived about 8:30 Denver time tonight – in time to see a beautiful sliver moon hanging in an sky turning from blue to darkness while the clouds over the Rockies glowed red in the sunset. By the time we made it to the rental car lot, the moment had passed so it will remain a memory rather than an image preserved in pixels.

What passes for vacation in my life begins tomorrow. We drove from Denver to Colorado Springs. The next few days will see wandering in this area; then the Trail turns north – to see Sue, whose husband Steve just died. A couple days at Rocky Mountain National Park follow. The memorial service for Steve takes place on Saturday. Then we head south to Ghost Ranch, then back to Denver and to Manhattan.

General plans are in place. The specifics will be chosen each day – or maybe the day before – and at least some of them will be reported here in words and images.

See you along the Trail.

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Filed under Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Travel

The things that keep me up nights

This picture is from Geneva.
Ever since I took it I have been wondering, losing sleep to wonder:
Who changes the red handkerchief when it gets dirty?
Thoughts?

 

 

See you along the Trail.

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Filed under Travel

More barbed wire

Walls and barbed wire have run through my mind ever since reading Theresa Cho’s post Unveiling the Barbed Wire Divider. I attended the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation as well so the themes were close at hand. Theresa’s words inspired some words from me. And led me to a picture I had taken at the University of the West Indies:

Not sure what to make of the picture – but it is worth pondering.

See you along the Trail.

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