November 30, 2014
Entries of a Traveler
11:00 am
I’m currently on my way home. We’ve all heard, “home is where the heart is”. I used to think I didn’t have one place to call “home”, and in a traditional sense, I guess that’s true. But flying and traveling this thanksgiving season, I have come to the beautiful conclusion that I am perfectly okay with that. I think I have a big enough heart and enough passion to share it with many states. Maybe, even a few of which I have no relational ties with.
Oregon, California, Oklahoma, Colorado, and some times (on a good day) I’ll give my heart to Michigan, too. They can all be home to me, because they all have my heart. Would it be a piece of my heart, or is it possible to have and share at the same time? I will allow each home to have all of it. Just like F. Scott Fitzgerald said, “There are all kinds of love in this world but never the same love twice.” I love all of my homes, each of which are different, but no one less than the other. (Except Michigan. I could love Michigan less and probably make it share with some other state. Nobody really loves Michigan.)
12:00 pm
“You’re not from here, are you?” Asked by pretty much every stranger I encounter while traveling. What gives me away? Is it the collecting of leafs on the sidewalk? Is it the photographing of what seems like an average building? Is it the speaking too quickly and accidentally letting a light southern accent peak through with random words? Is it the buying of postcards and stickers? Is it the lacking of personal space? (Though typical behavior for me anywhere.) Whatever it may be, I could answer rather quickly and relatively accurately with a quick, “No, I live in Oklahoma”. But after some thought, I have decided to answer with a question, “Where do you think I’m from?”. To what ever their guess is, as crazy as it may be, I will answer with a big fat grin on my face, “YES!” Though impossible to magically change the history of my homes, I will say, “YES! I am from there.” And for a few seconds I will have lived in a state or city I haven’t had the privileged to live in, yet. Because if I could fit there, I’d love to be there. (It makes sense if you don’t think about it.)
4:00 pm
On a plane and up in the air. (Unfortunately, not with George Clooney.) Window seat of course. It amazes me how many people get the window seat and close the window cover. It’s not that the window closers are wrong, it’s just they are difficult to understand. I understand you are tired, but I don’t understand the sleep. Not on a plane. Okay, well, I’ve fallen asleep on a plane. It’s just why? When it’s day time! When you can see!? “I’ve seen it all before.” “I fly all the time.” That’s what the window closers say. But they haven’t. There's no way they have seen this cloud on this day in this sky before. I get it, “Chloe, you’re being a bit romantic aren't you?” And I suppose I am. But I can’t help it! I’M IN THE SKY! I can see how a cotton blanket of clouds can get a bit redundant, but (and this may be my coffee speaking) I can’t shut my eyes. If not out the window, it will be the two lovers next to me. The blond hair and blue eyed girl, who I hate to admit, might be more outgoing than I. And her brown hair scruff’d compliment to my left. Or a mom’s bundle of joy behind me. Who, she swears, is “a genius! The doctors told me themselves. He’s just the most observant baby alive. AND he plays the drums!” And at eight months old, I’m sure he’s better than me, no doubt.
6:00pm
Almost home. I met Iza and Mark. “Iza like Liza but without the L.”
Iza:
Green eyes
Bolivian
Thick Portuguese accent
Small face
Big heart
Dolphin Lover
Cares more about the people she loves than matching her fanny pack with her windbreaker
Mark:
Tall
American
Quiet
Speaks three languages
Intelligent
Cultured
Observant
Loves his wife so much he couldn’t keep his hands off her for the entire flight
They met online “DreamCatch”. “I saw his picture and thought he was very handsome. I said, ‘Okay’. ha ha ha. Minutes later, I sent, ‘hello’. And that’s how it started.” They talked for two months before meeting. “We dated for six months. Engaged for two weeks.” She looked at her finger with a simple silver band. Sparkles in her eyes she said, “before I knew it, I look down at my hand and ring on my finger!” Though her accent thick, her expression said it all. I asked how the wedding was. Was it big or small? Where did you have it? She said, “at a park on a Monday at five pm. Who go to a wedding on a Monday!? Ha! Nobody! Nobody, but we make it work!” Smiles at her husband. “Yes, we make it work. My brother made…. What did he make?” She waits impatiently for her husband to answer quickly so she can continue her wedding tale. “Barbecue, Darling. Barbecue”. “Yes! My brother make barbecue for my wedding. And! And everybody looooooved it. They really did.” She smiled contently. Too curious and enthralled, I asked about her dress. She said, “I found it in two hours! My mother in town and I had two hours before work, and I said, ‘Ma! I have two hours before work. I get the dress now. You come now or don’t come.’ I tried on two dresses and hated them. Both. Then the third dress. That was it. The one.” I asked her to describe it to me. Although she showed me with great gestures-swinging and poking the air with both hands- and vibrant facial expressions, I’m afraid I could not understand exactly what she was saying. But I do know, no matter what she was wearing, be rags or diamonds, she looked stunning. She said, “I never get married. That’s what I told myself. I was thirty-three and no boys around. First dates, sure. But not the serious kind. How old are you?” “About to be nineteen, m’am.” “Well, you wait. Wait like me. Find a man who treats you like this,” she points to mark holding her bags. “You’ll make a great teacher. But love. It will come. You wait. Wait for special. You have personality. You will be great at teacher. You are special. Do not settle. Wait for a man who carries your bags.” I laughed and said I wasn’t in a hurry. Now married for thirteen years, you can find Iza jabbering in Mark’s ear as they hike and observe waterfalls (“I love the waterfalls”) in Rapid City, South Dakota. She said, “My advice to you: travel, study, and have fun.”
And that is why I like to travel.
