Traveling To A Place I’ve Never Been…

Corona Air Travel to a place I have never been.

6 Feet apart on the ground.

Masks, face covering and all as orders came for businesses to reopen

Next day mandatory

Embarked on flight observing the usual.

Full flight. Clumped together

White paper bags distributed on entry with tiny pack of cookies and bottled water.

The usual. No changes there

I can see the signs

Less crew to come.

With safe distancing, there’s nothing they need to do besides the initial guidance in preparation for take off

And even then, that’s automated

Three hours later, the friendship State I arrived.

Big airport. Masks everywhere

Until I get to my mountainous destination

Scanty. A few masked ones. The rest on their own.

Free to wander. Free to decide.

Spread the germs

Get the germs

The virus

Will it ever end?

Second leg. Flight empty except for a few dozen passengers

I arrive at my seat.

Backpack in hand and rollercase

I  was assigned to sit next to another passenger

I looked around. Why?

The flights empty for crying out loud!

Lovely lady. Kind. Helped me get ‘settled’ into my window seat

Except…. there’s no window.

Oh that’s weird.

A window seat with no window, hmm

Of course I couldn’t settle

One of my pastimes while traveling is to stare out the window

I read. I write. I plan. I stare. Eyes fixed until the earth beneath disappears behind the clouds

Then I gaze at the morning’s sunrise, midday sun or evening sunset

At nights I just stare at the lights until they are gone

Then I zoom into the plane’s flicker against the night sky.

Absolutely love

But then back to my story.

My kind neighbor who looks like a mayor’s wife who bakes cookies and welcomes all at Christmastime agree that I can make haste to the window behind.

No flight attendant in sight. I settle in.

Flight ready for takeoff they asked me to elevate the seat back

The sure demise of a previous passenger

I wiped the place clean … well as clean as I could without looking like a germaphobe

Settled in.

Look around at a passenger dressed in spacesuit

Extra precaution I’d say

Hungry …. had not eaten from morning and airport snack counters closed for obvious reason

I slaughtered a pack of biscuits brought from home

I usually sleep during take off but was too ravished to nap.

I dived in and ate and ate until the pack of biscuits disappeared

Now I await the 3 hour flight to a place I’ve never been