Day One: Burlington to Tucson

The taxi driver came fifteen minutes early today - 430am.  Everything worked.  Arrived in Tucson fifteen minutes early.  My bag arrived as well.  Yay.

I mostly read on the flights.  The three planes were full.  I had window seats on each of the flights (BTV to DC to DFW to TUC).  On none of the flights were there any conversations among myself and my seatmates.  Quiet all the way.  I was reading The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian.  I first heard of Armenia from my Mom.  Yes, she was one of those Moms that invoked the starving Armenians when I wasn't anxious to eat my broccoli.  She was thirteen years old when the genocide began.  I never learned what she knew about and thought about that situation.  She did mention because her Mom and Dad were German, her family tried to keep a low profile during those WW 1 years.

I had one thought looking at the window at 35000k feet.  Every morning I walk the dog(s) on pretty much the same route.  I know that route well.  Not as well as Kuma but well enough.  I know the favorite spots, when there was snow and ice on the ground, I knew the dangerous places, I know where there are other dogs who might distract my pair.  The point here is familiarity.  So I have deep feelings about this walk and places on this walk - I know it well.  I was struck, looking out my seat window, by how literally distant I was from the "places" on the ground.  I had no feelings for those places.  I felt (and was) disconnected.  I wonder...how can we possibly care about each other in this country without an expanded sense of place?  We can't.  So the question becomes, how can we develop a sense of place that is all our "place."  We need that as a country, don't we? Don't we need that caring for each other in order to move ourselves forward?

Tomorrow we are off early, to Santa Fe.  We already have identified a Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives (3D) place for lunch - Shorties in Hatch, NM.  Their specialty?  Geen Chili Burgers!

Also, Denver may have 4" of snow on Sunday.  If so, we will recalculate and avoid Colorado.

BTW - I wanted to get a picture into this blog but failed.  I'll continue to work on it.

Bye until later.