Reading: The Hundred Years War

Moving: nope

Watching: scenery

Listening: planes, trains, and automobiles

20 June 2001: Wednesday

CLH theorized that driving aggravated her back and didn't want to do any more than she had to, including the 15 miles westward to see Granny again. I gave her a brief backrub on the living room floor, there was stress about our rafts, and we left. I took a picture of the Climbing Tree on our way out. I have never photographed it before, and now it has lost branches and is covered by poison ivy, but that's my tree.

Boston was foully humid, but I was lucky to get out on time, because a storm later in the evening stopped lots of planes. United was calling for volunteers to be bumped to a flight two hours later, and I volunteered, figuring I'd never earned $200 an hour before. They ended up not needing me, but I did board so late that all the overhead space was full (I had a weeny overhead suitcase and my backpack). I had to check my bag at the gate. (And I didn't see either Julia Roberts movie on the flight back because the video equipment was dead.) We landed and taxied fine in Denver but as soon as the attendants disarmed the doors, hail the size of golf balls began plummeting from the heavens. Because of that, no one was allowed on the tarmac to retrieve luggage. I had to wait almost an hour for my bag. I felt quite put out. Also I noticed that I'm not into The Golden Notebook, as I had interrupted it with both other books I brought with me and barely could read it now in enforced conditions. Also I might have been angry at United for not defining "soon" in minutes and pondering the family situation. Also I worried that, having been lucky enough not to have either videocamera or wallet nabbed from a trunk left ajar, I would've fit the videocamera into my pack instead of padding it into a suitcase to be thrown carelessly into the ballast and thence stolen.

The bag arrived intact, HAO was not at home to receive my bored and fretful call, and RDC left perfect instructions about how to find Cassidy, so the world was spared my fretful rage and I got home fine, though late. RDC had fetched Blake from the vet on Monday--and flown out just a couple of hours before I was due--and I had arranged for Trey to come to the house in the evening to give Blake his supper. So he was fine, and I collapsed, and that was the end of my trip.