Flying into Vancouver Dave's first reaction was the amount of skyscrapers the city has, mine was the mountains and how new they looked with their fine points and mantles of white. Walking across the tarmac with mom, it wasn't until we were half-way to our destination we realized there had been no wheelchair waiting for us at this end. We made our way to the other end of the airport without hurrying and still had plenty of time for our connecting flight, even with a pit stop and border check along the way. The women at the Air Canada counter was shocked when told of mom's hike, delivering a chair right away. Our trio was then whisked on board like royalty, while the long line of fellow travelers snaked through the cue area of Gate D58.
That evening, flying east, in a great bird of metal with an engine large enough to swallow a Great White shark whole, I thought how plane travel had changed just in my lifetime. The fact that Dave was watching a new release movie on a ten inch screen attached to the head rest instead of a floor to ceiling screen and the head phones were now ear buds and not something that looked like a doctor's stethoscope. Mom reminisced a time when dinner was served on plates and tea not served in paper cups, and the pillows were bigger. The food this trip was surprisingly good. Sleep came in bits and when I finally awoke for the last time the sun was up and were were nearing the northern islands off Scotland.
From 35,000 feet in the sky the clouds look like waves of frothy foam floating high above the sea, or strange fantastical cities created out of oxygen and hydrogen that are constantly changing shape and then mysteriously gone. As we draw closer to civilization farms and irrigated patches of earth are surrounded by streams and hedgerows, communities pop up along inlets and bays. The captain announces we will have a delay in landing due to the weather, buckle up. I go to put my clogs on and discover my feet have swollen a bit. Thank goodness the tea cart comes by, a nice hot cup of tea always solves everything! Soon we are on British soil, the brakes of the plane squealing to a stop at one of the largest airports in the world. Mom has tears in her eyes as the plane as we depart, you may take the girl out of England but you can't take England out of the girl.
