I try to go down at least once a year, though thankfully, it has averaged more like twice a year over the past two. Last year I saw her for New Year's, again in April, when she came north for Thanksgiving, and then again for this New Year's. It is definitely possible, and really quite easy, to see the people you love and go to the places you want to go. All you have to do is make up your mind to make traveling to see them a priority.
I was determined to see Lisa for New Year's, because now that we have done this two years running, it feels like sort of a tradition, but a good tradition, not the kind like when you were a kid and everyone has to sit through the entire Thanksgiving Day Macy's parade while making antipasto, even when you think the parade is the most boring thing ever to air on television, and you don't eat antipasto.
I was also determined to have real, bona fide, plans for the built in four day weekend that I got at my new job. I had a four day weekend built in for Christmas, too, and luckily, was able to visit my sister in Dallas for that holiday, and also worked in some time with another of my best friends, who lives a town or two over from the city.
So, south I flew, sucking it up and flying out of Boston Logan instead of the much more convenient Manchester-Boston Regional airport, thanks to ridiculously expensive holiday tickets. I was slightly out of my comfort zone going to an airport that I didn't really know, which surprised me. I found a decent lot for parking that was only somewhat exorbitantly expensive, as opposed to Logan's ridiculously expensive long term parking. Then I flew on an airline I have never flown before and will never fly again: Spirit Air.
Spirit touts itself as a "budget" airline, and boy, do they mean it. They charge you $40 per carry on, but only if you're lucky enough to see the fine print on your reservation before you get to the airport. Otherwise, it's $100 a bag. To carry on.
If you have a question, either their website is down, or you can call their customer service line, sit on hold for more than an hour (no joke), and then speak with a nice person in a call center in India.
Once on board, there is advertising on the walls, and the flight attendants do their version of the Southwest "ha ha we're going to tell jokes so you pay attention" spiel, only when Southwest does it, it's funny. When Spirit does it, it's sad and depressing. They harp on how "budget" they are, that if the oxygen mask comes down in flight, after you swipe your credit card, oxygen will start to flow, that the only thing on the plane that is free is the seatbelt, and yes, they charge for water.
Luckily, the flight was nonstop and we made good time to Florida. Once in the airport, there was sunshine everywhere, I changed into shorts, put on my sunglasses, and stepped out into it.
The sun sets an hour later in western Florida than in New Hampshire. I would stand outside, starting at the mysterious bright round yellow thing in the sky at 5:30pm. Talk about good for my soul.
Lisa and I picked up some things for dinner, and then decided to go see the fireworks at Naples pier. The show is at 7, so we got to the beach around 6:30. We knew it would be crowded, but it was a special kind of crowded. You had to step very carefully to navigate around the many, many people who had set up camp with beach chairs and coolers. Despite being very crowded, the beach was incredibly civilized. People were (mostly) quiet, and very respectful of one another.
Lisa and I noticed what appeared to be luminaries floating by in the sky, a whole long line of them floating up the beach. It was magical and breathtaking and we had no idea what was going on.
We started to look around and saw a man and his son working on launching one. Sure enough, these were paper lanterns with a sparkler in the bottom. Once the sparkler gets going, you release the whole thing and let the wind and laws of physics do what they do.
This dad worked with his son for a bit and was struggling, so another person came to help. Other beach-goers called out advice as well. Finally, finally, the dad got it lit and was ready to launch it. He grabbed his son, told him to hold the bottom of the lantern so they could release it together over the water. "You take all of your worries, light them on fire, and then watch them float away," the dad said to his son, as the luminary began to float away overhead, followed by a long line of other luminaries, each carrying the worries of the day with them as they floated on by.
No comments:
Post a Comment