Turn Your Face To The Sun
Christmas!
This year, I made gift bags:
Way cute! I bought the fabric last year in the after-Christmas sales, and it sat in a stack un-made until December 23rd. Of course. The intention was there! I have several other fabrics for next year, and I might (might!) go troll the shops for some new fabrics. This was way fun, eco-responsible (well, compared to throw-away paper. I have no idea how eco-responsible the cotton manufacturers are and cotton itself is one of the biggest carbon-footprint fabrics so yes, there is that. Yikes! it is hard to keep up.) Anyway, I think worth doing. Eventually, I'll have all sorts and sizes of bag wraps.
There were gifts! Two grandchildren got sweaters:
They also got books and a toy: I maintain my position as the grandma who pushes books. I can live with that! We had lots of time to visit, family meals, some pleasant walks while the weather was good, and then... it was time to go home.
So yes, all this Christmas gallivanting means I was one of those people caught in the Great Cancelled Flight Debacle of New Year 2014. First my flight was delayed for 6 hours. Fine! Check in, pass through security and go straight to the lounge, where there is food, tea, a bathroom, big chairs and a plug for the tablet. I spun, snacked, drank tea, and chatted with the ladies and families who were nearby. We did not suffer, in any sense of the word. I spun two spindles of silk:
See? marble top tables. How tough is this life :)?
Then, my flight was canceled. Drat! Well, in the lounge, there are ticket agents. I stood in a 6 person line to have my new flight booked. Done! My son picked me up, and I went back to their house for one more night/morning with the grandchildren:
Sure, no luggage (it was checked). But I carry emergency back ups of small necessaries, I can use hand creme for face creme one day, and wear the same clothes (changing the small necessaries) for two days running. I am grandma, hear me roar.
Checking in the second day I could breeze by huge crowds at the kiosks, because hey: no luggage to check, boarding pass in hand. Security was a breeze (everyone was up at the ticket counters) and my second flight took off on time and arrived home with my luggage from the day previous. Piece O' Cake.
I spun and plied on the plane, while listening to my book.
I had plenty of time to watch people all day Friday and part of the day Saturday. Some people don't do well in these situations, they argue, become rude and fight about everything with everyone: their travel partners, the ticket agents, the gate agents, hell, even the person who just happens to be standing next to them. I don't understand this anger. Frustration? yes, but why get angry at someone who is trying to help you? Do you think yelling at the ticket agent will get you a better seat? More likely it will get your party seats arrayed all over the cabin, and someone will be by the lavatory and someone else will be in a bulkhead seat that does not recline. Get a clue. Be nice to the people trying to help you. Enjoy the moment, in any way you can, because anger will not improve the experience.
My return flight was populated by other refugees from the flight the day before, and we had stories. One lady was traveling with her dog-in-a-bag. I am soooo glad I did not have a little dog with me for 5 hours waiting in the airport! One young man had his flight delayed until midnight, and then canceled at 1 AM. Glad I was not him! One woman spoke no English, and had several people translating or miming for her, whenever an announcement was made. Everyone had stories, all were more onerous than mine, but these were still cheerful people, telling stories that will go down as "remember when" anecdotes in their lives, not as angry diatribes blaming everyone but climate change.
We deal with things in different ways, but being cheerful, or at least polite and pleasant, makes these experiences a blip, not the cause of high blood pressure or apoplexy. As for me: things ran as smoothly as I could hope under trying conditions. Luck was with me. I had an easy time, and I made the best of any bumps in the road. Let's hope this sets a theme for the new year: Overcome Obstacles Cheerfully.
It could be a saying in a fortune cookie!
This year, I made gift bags:
Way cute! I bought the fabric last year in the after-Christmas sales, and it sat in a stack un-made until December 23rd. Of course. The intention was there! I have several other fabrics for next year, and I might (might!) go troll the shops for some new fabrics. This was way fun, eco-responsible (well, compared to throw-away paper. I have no idea how eco-responsible the cotton manufacturers are and cotton itself is one of the biggest carbon-footprint fabrics so yes, there is that. Yikes! it is hard to keep up.) Anyway, I think worth doing. Eventually, I'll have all sorts and sizes of bag wraps.
There were gifts! Two grandchildren got sweaters:
They also got books and a toy: I maintain my position as the grandma who pushes books. I can live with that! We had lots of time to visit, family meals, some pleasant walks while the weather was good, and then... it was time to go home.
So yes, all this Christmas gallivanting means I was one of those people caught in the Great Cancelled Flight Debacle of New Year 2014. First my flight was delayed for 6 hours. Fine! Check in, pass through security and go straight to the lounge, where there is food, tea, a bathroom, big chairs and a plug for the tablet. I spun, snacked, drank tea, and chatted with the ladies and families who were nearby. We did not suffer, in any sense of the word. I spun two spindles of silk:
See? marble top tables. How tough is this life :)?
Then, my flight was canceled. Drat! Well, in the lounge, there are ticket agents. I stood in a 6 person line to have my new flight booked. Done! My son picked me up, and I went back to their house for one more night/morning with the grandchildren:
Sure, no luggage (it was checked). But I carry emergency back ups of small necessaries, I can use hand creme for face creme one day, and wear the same clothes (changing the small necessaries) for two days running. I am grandma, hear me roar.
Checking in the second day I could breeze by huge crowds at the kiosks, because hey: no luggage to check, boarding pass in hand. Security was a breeze (everyone was up at the ticket counters) and my second flight took off on time and arrived home with my luggage from the day previous. Piece O' Cake.
I spun and plied on the plane, while listening to my book.
I had plenty of time to watch people all day Friday and part of the day Saturday. Some people don't do well in these situations, they argue, become rude and fight about everything with everyone: their travel partners, the ticket agents, the gate agents, hell, even the person who just happens to be standing next to them. I don't understand this anger. Frustration? yes, but why get angry at someone who is trying to help you? Do you think yelling at the ticket agent will get you a better seat? More likely it will get your party seats arrayed all over the cabin, and someone will be by the lavatory and someone else will be in a bulkhead seat that does not recline. Get a clue. Be nice to the people trying to help you. Enjoy the moment, in any way you can, because anger will not improve the experience.
My return flight was populated by other refugees from the flight the day before, and we had stories. One lady was traveling with her dog-in-a-bag. I am soooo glad I did not have a little dog with me for 5 hours waiting in the airport! One young man had his flight delayed until midnight, and then canceled at 1 AM. Glad I was not him! One woman spoke no English, and had several people translating or miming for her, whenever an announcement was made. Everyone had stories, all were more onerous than mine, but these were still cheerful people, telling stories that will go down as "remember when" anecdotes in their lives, not as angry diatribes blaming everyone but climate change.
We deal with things in different ways, but being cheerful, or at least polite and pleasant, makes these experiences a blip, not the cause of high blood pressure or apoplexy. As for me: things ran as smoothly as I could hope under trying conditions. Luck was with me. I had an easy time, and I made the best of any bumps in the road. Let's hope this sets a theme for the new year: Overcome Obstacles Cheerfully.
It could be a saying in a fortune cookie!
posted by Sara at 11:11 AM
3 Comments:
Did you mean to put your photos into the blog like that: you can scroll through your flicker photo page from each one of them.
Just asking.
Vic
new (and sadly unwanted) "feature" on Flickr. ugh.
Overcome Obstacles Cheerfully! I was meant to read that this morning with coffee in hand as I look at the heddles I threaded last night... and have three threads left over. Hmmmm. I will cheerfully? check the threading of my 600 plus threads this morning... after I have my coffee!
Priscilla
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