it took me a very, very long time to get here. a very long time.

before actually getting on board, there was yet another security check at the entrance of the plane itself. 3 all together before i could set my ass in a seat. and leave it there for the next 13+ hours. but enough about HK. i’m in SF now. and yep- there was yet another security check. i am not sure what they think anyone can get up to in-between flights. i mean, we’ve been very intimately frisked repeatedly. and there is no room for shenanigans from getting off one plane and boarding another in the hermetically sealed environs that is the airport. but it is the world we live in. and i guess it’s just what has to be done. but as i’m sitting here in SFO waiting for my blessed vessel to speed me home, a very perky female voice keeps reminding us that “we are in a national security terror alert level of orange. your assistance is required by homeland security to maintain constant vigilance of your bags and personal belongings....” it keeps going on like that, but i tune the rest out.

 

i am so glad to be home. i mean, all this craziness is just ridiculous, but i do love america. i hate the government, but i love america. when the captain came on after touching down, in that very captain-y voice they all have, he just said ‘america welcomes you home.” i got all teary eyed. i’m such a wuss sometimes. but i always get so excited to get back home. everything is beautiful to me. i am in love with everyone and everything. this usually lasts about 5 days. then the routine of life sets back in. i’m already wondering what my next trip is.  i know i want to do beijing in 2008. but i cannot wait 2 years to travel again. those close to me can attest, that i need to travel to remain focused and clear. i know i will never run out of places to go.

 

now the real anticipation sets in: one more short flight to seattle. i’ll meet bobbers at the airport. we’ll hug and kiss and hug some more and get all mushy and awkward and then we’ll talk over each other trying to catch each other up. then we will drive to mama’s mexican kitchen, where it is a hard and fast ritual of mine to visit immediately (no stopping home first, ever) to stuff myself with margaritas and enchiladas. i have done this since the very time i left the country. it is what actualizes my being home. they know me well there.

 

i am so ready.

 

and then i go home and play with spike until i collapse from exhaustion around 7pm.

 

home again. home again.