Greetings from Coventry, England. OK, so we are actually more than 37,000 feet above England having just crossed over Ireland on our way to Amsterdam. We are now over 7 hours into this trip and our bodies are staring to revolt. Outside the window of this amazing Airbus plane the sun is shining and the day is in full swing. But to our bodies, it is about midnight and time to go to sleep. We are seriously jet lagging!
The day started with a great service at church where the congregation sent us away with a prayer of blessing. We had our final American dinner of Spring Creek barbecue and headed to the airport. The check in and loading went off without a hitch. And we now know that KLM airlines might be one of the best airlines in the world. The food is amazing for airplane food. And the service from the staff is first rate. And then there is Godzilla. One of the flight attendants is freakishly large for a woman who makes her living on an airplane. Jayne disagrees. But picture a woman pushing a beverage cart through Tokyo knocking down power lines and destroying buildings, and you will have a picture of her aisle. Think of the movie “Attack of the 50 Foot Woman”.
There is a princess a few rows ahead of me. Sofia Brown (one of the children on our team) left Dallas as a five year old and sits with her seat in it’s upright position as a new six year old. Today is her birthday, and she is spending it looking out the window at an orange sunrise bathing purple clouds. She is donning a pointed princess hat with streamers. We all have party hats to wear which arouses curious stares from the other passengers on the plane.
My seat is mentioned in Dante’s “Inferno”. I say that because it is maybe the lowest level of hell. Imagine a 6’ 5”, 280 pound man crammed into a seat designed for a skinny European. Then add to the mix the lady in front of me with her seat fully reclined. I am bent like a pretzel in ways that would make Richard Simmons and Indian yogis proud. I must admit I occasionally nudge the seat a little just to send her a not so subtle message. God please forgive me.
We are on approach to Holland. So I must go. We have an hour layover at Schipol and then on to Berlin. Eyes are burning but stomach is full and happy. Jayne literally spoke to the laptop saying “hi”. I don’t think she knows you can’t hear her. God I love that woman. On to the land of tulips and windmills.
Steve Foss
Steve - You have quite a gift with words. It was as if I was right there on the plane with you, watching your pain and the complete cluelessness of the person in front of you. I hope things have only gotten better since the end of that flight. - Jen
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