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Wednesday March 14, 2012

The plan for today, rise up at 3:30 AM to dress, finish packing and  throw down a cup of coffee before Don and Nancy pick me up at 4:15. My mental notes to myself before falling to sleep were OMG you forgot you are  going to Houston after Bella Donna not straight home and you will be gone for over a month. So as the iPhone rings at 3:30, as my usual dream/nightmare where I am facing something impossible to solve, my first thought is to pack for Houston, a task I think I can handle. It's 5 after 4 and my bags are ready and I have 10 minutes to finish my coffee and remove all the metal from my body to get through airport security. Let's see, Casio watch, myRoadID, and the silver necklace Lauren gave to me a few years ago.

I picked her up at school one day and she said she had a present for me. Thinking it was something she made in school. I unwrapped it, one, two, three, four, five and even more Kleenexes. Finally the well protected silver necklace. My jaw dropped, not what I expected. Upon questioning it she said it was her dad's but he did not want it anymore and she decided I should have it. The only time I take it off is for airport security; it means a lot to me. I hang 3 rings on it: my wedding ring, my Bella Donna ring and my OSI ring.

Off we go in the rain catching all the traffic lights between Douglas Ranch and Highway 80. Wearing a Hawaiian shirt (with t-shirt underneath to be shed later), cargo pants, crocks and my Galveston Island hat to protect my dermatologist damaged face from the Caribbean sun. Can you believe we are the only car pulling up to the American Airlines curbside check-in. Soon their are other passengers, but non wearing a big sun hat. I must look just as out of place as the  business travelers in blue suits look to me. Oh I remember the days. I am retired, this is as dressed up as I get.

First stop Dallas; every seat is taken. Don draws an interesting seat next to, I think, a business man our age and soon they are having a spirited conversation. I get to sit next to an older lady, probably my age. She has a 5 pound, 7 year old Terrier dog named Big Man in a small cloth cage. I think of Bently, the kids new 2 pound and less than 3 months old Terrier. Big Man desperately wants out of its flimsy cloth cage and is barking, quite loud for such a small dog. The stewardess asks if the lady, "Weren't you supposed to give that dog drugs to keep it calm ?". Proclaiming that she had done as instructed, she later told me she was fearful of giving such a small dog drugs. Big Man did not look sedated to me.

First to Dallas, then to Miami and finally to Saint Thomas. It is a lot better flying the big jets, a lot more leg room and creature comfort. The Caribbean does not go on daylight savings time to we gain 3 hours, not 4. Our touchdown was just after 8 PM and we scan the crowd awaiting passengers for John's face. There he is. 

A short rental car ride later, Deborah meets us at the dock. Luci, our third crew is on deck. A warm "you are home" like feeling comes pver me; it has been a year since I have seen Bella Donna. She looks like a new boat especially with the new dinghy and trampoline. Any hope of getting to bed early vanishes as we sit and catch up with each other over the most wonderful ceviche and scotch.

God Bless Bella Donna