Global pandemic. Inauguration Day. Approximately three hundred loose ends to tie up, with more things unraveling as we furiously shoved things in bags. Seems like a great time to travel!
I was looking around at the sea of masks on the plane and thinking about our trip down to the boat last year, and how blissfully unaware we were of the events that would unfold to change everything so dramatically. Last year we were anxious thinking about the state of the boat, the destruction of the islands, our friends’ livelihoods. For that we had bags packed full of supplies, energy with which to tackle projects, and the knowledge that we were healthy and safe together.
This year, the intensity of my fear of one of us contracting COVID-19 en route just about eats up all of our available anxiety points. Counterbalancing those brain-devouring thoughts for days has been a montage of the gifts we have to look forward to: a boat not ravaged by a hurricane, a return to the beloved cottage we found at the end of our stay to kick off our Green Turtle days, and the assurance that the crystal clear waters lapping onto the white sand beaches will be there to comfort us with its persistant ‘shhhsssshhh’.
We haven’t left Maine since March; we’ve barely left our tiny island town, and trips out of our house for anything other than hikes or walks have become big events. For someone who was “born with her bags packed”, as my mother has long told me, it’s amazing how the tides turn and how quickly we adapt to change.
Airports have always been some of my favorites places in the world. The designs, the planning involved in the management of moving so many people, the people watching, the plane watching, the newsstands for the logic problem books… all of it. I’ve spent nights in a few, raced around many more in a frenzied panic, lost my bags in some, but still, nothing has diminished my adoration. Fast forward to today’s world, where I just want to get out of them. I’m flummoxed as to how we’ve gotten this far into a pandemic with people who still don’t understand how and why masks work, I’m thirsty and hungry because there have been too many people nearby to feel comfortable unmasking to partake, and mostly, I’m finding myself just mad at the air, which makes me feel terrified and crazy all at once. Let me just say thank goodness for the distraction of logic problems.
BUT! The anxiety tide always ebbs, as well. The boat! Green Turtle friends! Warmth! And I’d be remiss not to mention our excitement for seeing our favorite rooster, hopefully still in residence at our cottage. I’m not sure the chances are great that Wild Bobby is indeed still bopping around, but the possibility has us excited. (Distributing our dog and cat to loving wintertime caregivers is the hardest of our pre-trip ‘to dos’. Clearly Wild Bobby is one of many stand-ins along the way, although decidedly less cuddly.)
Next photos: turquoise waters!