Aristocrats, vagabonds, and clowns… does this describe your passel of friends, foes, and family? Have you been able to see, hug, and hold them close yet? After the protracted pause our lives endured across the nation, the friendly skies (whose airline slogan is that?) have been filled to the max! It’s as if every US citizen has decided to shuffleboard their life, traveling somewhere to visit beloved people, place, and things.

On the plus side, renewal by hug and spontaneous chatter – on the minus side, anti-maskers have waged war on flight attendants.

Me – I’m not ready to fly anywhere anytime soon. Besides the potential resurgence of COVID’s Delta variant that may fully resume the quarantine threat, arthritis precludes sitting in a cramped airline seat with limited legroom for the 2000 mile trip to the Midwest. So, a reunion with family must wait.

Larry and I have lots of friends and relatives across the country, even Down Under in Australia. We haven’t seen many of them in the past year-and-a-half. Only brave Kevin and Kit from Colorado – he piloted his own plane in/out of John Wayne Airport, so he ought to have been given a medal for surviving our ultra-crowded air space! They came for my book launch, so they hold an exalted place in my heart.

Our friends from Australia came to visit us when my previous book launch party occurred. We celebrated mutual birthdays, mine on the night of the event in February 2017…swoon!

We have plans to meet mid-state with longterm friends in a couple of weeks. We’ll enjoy wine, laughter, and camaraderie again. We’ll also see a renowned light installation, spread over hillsides barren by day and lit up with millions of lights by night! Fabulous, fantastic – the friendly skies on our turf! California first!

I feel as if I’ve come out of a lengthy and nasty dream, a Rip Van Winkle of 16 months, due to the kiss of a very handsome prince. My husband is pictured above. He will make a great travel companion during this trip, as he was during our dream state homestay – and as he’s been throughout our marriage.

He is my aristocrat, vagabond, and clown. We shuffleboard together, no matter what.