In between - Toronto airport - Saturday Apr 2

Hello Friends and Family Traveling with us in imagination,

Here we are in Toronto airport waiting for our flight to Dublin Ireland which we will board at 8:10 tonight east coast time. 

We are in that liminal space that is neither origin nor destination. It’s a wonderful part of travel I had forgotten during these COVID years - this feeling of being suspended between times and places. It makes me think of an AA Milne poem I love (forgive the lack of proper line breaks - the first version I found on the internet didn’t have them:

Halfway down the stairs, is a stair, where I sit. There isn't any, other stair, quite like, it. I'm not at the bottom, I'm not at the top; So this is the stair, where, I always, stop. Halfway up the stairs, isn't up, and isn't down. It isn't in the nursery, it isn't in the town. And all sorts of funny thoughts, run round my head: It isn't really anywhere! It's somewhere else instead!

This also makes me think of the “Stairs” game I play with our kitty Mystery where I sing her theme song “oh Sweet Mystery of Life” (with my revised lyrics) while I rub her as she stretches and rolls down the stairs. I try to slide down like she does but it’s hard for a 74 year old human to be as liquid as a 3 year old cat. 

Our journey began with a trip to the dump in the way to the ferry. There, driving by the Exchange (our local facility for recycling reusable objects of all kinds), I saw two huge metal sculptures of lobsters. I thought of my east coast cousins and snapped a photo to show them that we have lobstahs in Orcas Island too, even bigger than their east coast lobsters. 

After the ferry we stopped at Costco for gas and to see if they had second boosters available yet. They did and we got them. 

We spent the night in Seattle and Chris watched the Stanford-Yukon  women’s basketball game with her daughter Sandy (rooting for opposite teams). (okay I am such a womens basketball illiterate That I think UConn is Yukon - but their mascot does look like an arctic wolf to me) We also had a glass of wine with Joanne, the longtime friend of Chris and her children who loaned us her apartment in Seattle before my surgery. 

Then at 5am we climbed into an Uber and headed for Seatac airport. It was strange how once familiar things like getting an Uber or going through airport security felt strange and unfamiliar after so long without doing them. It gave them a quality of freshness and a dreamy quality. Both a little scary and a little exciting. 

Walking around Seattle we were aware of how much spring we will be missing on Orcas. Seattle is a week or two ahead of us.  The trees are blossoming on Orcas but the tulips aren’t up yet and the lilacs haven’t opened. We will miss all of that. On the other hand we hope to see the glorious red poppies in Crete. 

Despite very rapid healing after my sentinel lymph node surgery, I have been having issues with swollen lymph nodes. The doctor suggested icing and compression so I found an ice bag I could use while travelling. It has been working very well and people are very kind about giving me ice. 

That’s about all for now. We will be in Dublin tomorrow, then heading for Killarney Monday. Chris will give her talk “The Lure of the New” on Tuesday.