enroute

Rough couple of days getting out of San Francisco.  Lots of gnashing of teeth, tears and intense time compression.  An incredible amount of work to get the house cleared and closed up.  Gave four huge bags of foodstuffs away and threw out a decade’s collection of spices and baking supplies.   Hired a task rabbit and our 10:1 packing rate put me to shame since I couldn’t help stopping, standing rapt next to a box of old letters, reading.   What is it, that thing where decade by decade the very same bits of random paper survive moves, remodels, manic episodes, and then one year the handwriting alone makes you stop and catch your breath.  Pen on paper from someone who between the last such sort and this one has died.   How can I not stop to read to look for signs of impermanence.    

This morning, which having crossed the International Dateline is really yesterday morning now, was very hard.  I’d stayed up until around 2 doing laundry and taking care of desk things, paying bills and pulling together data for my tax accountant and finishing the actual luggage packing.  We’re allowed six 70 pound cases total and we wound up with five.   Five bags!  I used to be a traveler and would go off to explore with only a backpack and maybe carry-on-sized bag.  I’m not sure if it’s age, parenthood or profession that has changed all that.  Combined with bringing several months’ supply of Trader Joe’s kid’s multivitamins for our friends and us, plenty of Peets coffee and even a few bottles of wine.  Well, you see the problem.  So there was that.  Then there was the last culling that resulted in several additional packed boxes and bins needing to be carried down to my basement.  My former partner was there to drive us to the airport so luckily he schlepped the stuff down this morning while I did the last minute house-cleaning stuff and tossed out fridge and pantry food.  LiLi was revved up and helped in between doing handstands and flips all over the house. 

So now we are enroute.  So far it has gone pretty smoothly.  We used miles to get business class seats and they are the lie-flat variety so it is comfortable and we can sleep.  LiLi is loving having her own little sleeping pod and screen though I have to say there has been little sleep going on but lots and lots of moving the seat upright and then flat, foot rest up and down, and lots of clicking of the remote too.   The kids’ video section is quite limited and the battery of her laptop is low.  I brought three of her favorite books and gave her one before we got on the plane, one just now,  and have one left.  I didn’t bring  enough for the return flight but by then her tastes will likely have changed and she’ll also be reading more age-appropriate books in Chinese. 

Five more hours and we’re there.