back into the woods

I returned from Florida last night. I reread Power vs. Force in the two days while I traveled there and now back and the crash course review made me feel extra awake. I was in Charlotte waiting for my connecting flight in the terminal and it kept getting delayed along with a few other planes for maintenance reasons they said. There was a guy next to me watching a personal DVD player in his lap when they announced that his flight was refueling in Philadelphia and then it was on its way.
“What the hell!” I hear him say as he slammed his player to the ground. Not looking up from the pages of Power vs. Force I couldn’t help but find humor in how well he was demonstrating the opposite of surrendering to the flow. All he wanted was someone to blame, someone to go yell at, someone to care and be as upset as he was so his ego would feel better.
“God Damnit! I could have rented a car and driven there by now!” he keeps yelling to himself and then storms off to the counter to raise hell. Then he comes back, still disgruntled and hot, and finds that he broke his DVD player when he slammed it to the ground in a childish fit of temper.
I couldn’t help but smile, but I never looked up from my book.

My flight did turn out to be a little late getting back to Birmingham and I was going to feel bad about Brooks having to wait, but somehow I didn’t think he would be there on time anyways. It worked out he was 45 minutes late anyways, hmmm. When I was waiting for my bag to come out I was looking for a coke machine but I couldn’t find one. I asked the security guard if there was one and he said, “sure is, let me show you.”
He proceeded to walk me to the “Authorized Personal Do Not Enter” door and tell me to go through and there would be one on the right I could use, then just come straight back out.
“Thanks so much,” I told him. When I went in there was indeed a coke machine and cans were only 50 cents. A 50 cent coke machine is a rare find these days, am I wrong? Anyways, while I'm in there I realize I don’t actually have a dollar bill or even any change because I didn’t take any carry on what with the new regulations and all. I passed the security guard on the way out, empty handed, and laughed to him about how I didn’t even have a dollar after all.
“Well here, let me give you a dollar,” the security guard insisted.
“No no, are you sure? It’s ok I can wait, no big deal-“
“No no, its just a dollar, here ya go.”
“Gosh sir, I sure do appreciate it.”
Sure enough I got my Dr. Pepper, which was only 50 cents, but he wouldn’t take the change back. “I said I’d give you a dollar I’m going to give you a dollar.”
Power vs. Force, I couldn’t help but smile.

It was so easy not to think about the fact it was 9/11, I don’t know why that is. Fear I presume.

It’s a rainy day on the farm today. As I came up the porch stairs I heard Meadow and then saw him curled up in the chair underneath the bird feeders. Behind him in the fields three turkeys peck along and don’t seem to mind the rain one bit. A few more trees have turned yellow and they stand out with a golden glint that reminds me the seasons are in the midst of change.
Walking in I am greeted by the house and I greet it back, thankful to have returned. Thankful to have such a place to return to. Thankful. Grandma is reading in the chair by the picture window and gets excited to see me. Over her shoulder through the picture glass window I notice ten more turkeys are wandering the other field. There must be near sixteen turkeys in two different flocks living around the farm these days I figure. It’s rather peaceful now that we’ve used up most of our fireworks from the summer, its no wonder the turkeys love to get back in these fields.
Coming back to the farm feels like more of a blessing every time. When I leave this place and venture out to explore and observe and participate it gives me great perspective on just how special of a spot this place is when I come back home. How nice it is to worry about making sure grandma is happy and taken care of, to know I have time to reflect on things that happened out in the world, to have a place to walk that’ll always be there, to have family first and be assured my vibe is positive when I’m here.