Tablelands, North Queensland
To Australia--and A Total Eclipse of the Sun
Those of you who are already regular blog readers know that my son Alec, a solar astronomer, asked me to join him--and a load of other scientists--in Port Douglas, Australia, to view a total eclipse of the sun. You also know that I'm a reticent traveler, but the prospect of being with my far-off son (he currently lives in Bozeman, Montana), coupled the prospect of seeing our sun, Earth's nearest star, completely obscured by the moon, was impossible to refuse. To go "down under" requires many hours of travel, but if your ticket is purchased using frequent flyer miles and Mother Nature in addition decides to kick up a typhoon over the Pacific, it takes many, many, many hours. Such was the case with my trip.
The flight, scheduled to leave Boston at 5:40am, meant I needed to be at Logan Airport at 4:00am (in the case of this international connection, no boarding pass available online for printing). So, my husband Jim thought it best for us to stay the night before at the airport Hilton, 300 yards away from check-in instead of the 30 miles distance to our home. Knowing that this venture was emotionally and geographically a big deal, Jim stayed with me until the TSA security check. I'd tucked my passport, ticket, and itinerary safely into a little canvas envelope slung about my neck. I felt a bit like one of those English children who, to escape the WWII bombings of London, were sent by rail to live with families in the countryside. They, too, carried their identities around their necks. Well, so do soldiers and sailors.
Sadly, I left my set of dogs tags hanging in the closet of the house I lived in while serving in Japan. I'd had them since Officer Candidate School. And, yes, they did have my name rank and serial number but also there was room at the bottom for religion. When I filled out the paperwork under religion I wrote "Druid." My OCS friends thought I was going to get into trouble but miraculously, when I got the tags they said "Druid." (If I ever needed last rites where on earth would the Navy have found a Druid priest?)
The first leg of my journey was not to verdant English lands, but to the Lone Star state of Texas, specifically the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport. I had twelve full hours before I was to board my Qantas flight to Brisbane, Australia, so I became a day member of the DFW airport club. There I could rest, perchance to cat nap.
But that was not to last. First, a gentleman in a cowboy hat sitting in an "information" booth urged me to take a shuttle tour that ran directly from the airport.
"It'll take you straight to the largest mall in Texas!"
He was so enthusiastic, his eyes so bright, that I tried to register interest but obviously failed. He hastily added that the shuttle also went to Grapevine, a restored 19th-century town. That sounded better, but with so many thousands of miles to travel ahead of me I felt reticent to leave the airport. And, watching the national election returns and then getting up at 3:00am, I'd had barely three hours sleep the night before. But that was not to be. After learning that I would be staying at the airport many hours, the two women attending the DFW lounge also urged me to take the shuttle, adding that Grapevine was "adorable." Maybe I was just being too careful. And, after all, once aboard the plane there would be plenty of opportunity to snooze. They confirmed that I could get back through security with my ticket, and that they would be glad to keep my knapsack--it contained my iPad, Kindle, camera, lenses, and considerable cash--behind their counter while I was gone. So I stepped out into the warm Texas sun and caught the shuttle. Here is Grapevine:
As
you can see, Grapevine was not going to wait for Thanksgiving to pass
before its Christmas kick-off. The stores, most of them gift shops,
were loaded to the gunnels with all manner of Christmas items, the
majority of which seemed to hail from China. There were, however, some
charming, locally made crafts. And there were Christian crosses a
plenty--home decor crosses of metal, leather, and wood for walls,
necklaces, brooches, and bracelets, and many other Christian-themed
items including bed covers, stationery, and Biblical exhortations to
post on your wall. But my favorites were the gold and silver plastic
tiaras with crosses made up of fake rhinestone plastic jewels, in other
words double fakes. Next to the tiaras stood a rack full of princess
dresses for toddlers, all made of shiny polyester and tulle. Here you
see that one can imbibe in some religion in Grapevine:
Coffee and Religion Ainslie Sheridan copyright 2012 I didn't go in, but it seems there would be no surveillance by either human or electronic camera.
As you can well guess, I had no desire to linger in Grapevine, so I hopped on the shuttle and returned to DFW. I handed the agent my trip itinerary, which had my ticket n number on it. He immediately handed it back and stated that he needed my boarding pass. I fished out my Boston to DFW boarding pass and handed it to him.
"I need the boarding pass for the flight you are going to take."
"But I don't have any others. American Airlines didn't give me one."
He advised me to go over to the American counter and said he was certain they would take care of it.
Not a chance. An unsympathetic woman said I would have to wait until the Qantas ticket counter opened, and since my flight (leaving at nine p.m.) was the only Qantas flight there would be no staff available to check me in until seven-thirty, at least four hours. My throat began to tighten and my heart began to pound. The DFW lounge closed at seven and I needed my knapsack!
Me: "Look, you have to let me back in. Call the DFW Lounge and they'll tell you they have my bag. There's a tag on it with my name and address."
Ms I-Could-Care-Less: "Sorry, your flight with American finished here." So much for Oneworld ticketing. She concluded, "There's nothing I can do."
Me: "The TSA agent said you could help me. I want you to walk over with me and tell him exactly why you can't!"
Ms I-Could-Care-Less would not deign to do this but had an underling (very nice but oh-so-inexperienced) walk me back to the TSA agent. The agent said he would fetch his supervisor, who appeared within minutes. And as soon as he smiled and asked what the problem was I burst into tears.
Me, half in tears, half joking: "I'm not a terrorist. I was in the Navy for fourteen years. I'm wearing a Boston Red Sox cap."
TSA agent: But you need a boarding pass.
Me: "Okay, don't let me through. Just get someone to bring my knapsack down to me."
TSA agent "An unsupervised bag would cause even more of a problem."
Me: "It isn't unattended. Two ladies in the DFW lounge are supervising it. I have to go to Australia but I can't go to Australia without that bag." Tears were now streaming down my face.
TSA agent: "Give me your itinerary and wait here.
In ten minutes he was back and beckoned me through the X-ray machine. He stayed with me until I'd picked up my little canvas bag and cell phone.
TSA agent: "You know, you were a big little problem for us. In all my years here I have never let anyone through without a boarding pass."
Me: "Sorry, thank you so much."
One of ladies handed me my knapsack. "Well, how did you like Grapevine?"
Me: "I'll tell you after I have a drink. Make that two drinks.
I'm sorry this entry leaves us still in Texas, but the next blog will get us to Australia, the eclipse, and, yes, even horses, I promise.
Thank you for reading The Windflower Weekly--
Ainslie
Note: Next Saturday, December 1, as well as Sunday, December 2, as part of a Holiday promotion, Amazon Kindle is offering my novel Trophies, An Equestrian Romance for free. You don't have to own a Kindle. The Kindle application is free and may be downloaded on your iPad, computer, or tablet. You can also send it to a friend as an e-gift. Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/Trophies-An-Equestrian-Romance-ebook/dp/tags-on-product/B00998J2B2
Another link: http://www.allhorsestuff.com/
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