metanoia's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Touchdown in So Cal We arrived at the Atlanta Airport in plenty of time, parked and used the little automated kiosk. What a wonderful invention. No line and I had my boarding pass in less than a minute, and my bags checked in a couple more minutes. We were so early, we walked right through the security checkpoints and had enough time to have a little coffee and bagels before the flight. Watching the baggage carts flit in an out of precariously tiny spaces, we no longer wondered how/why they got so banged up. But watching the handlers pick up bags and throw bags and scurry off with bags and bring some more bags, I am in awe of the entire process. Or maybe it was just mind-splittingly early and since I was half awake everything was mystical and meaningful. More than likely, that. Flight was good and not completely full so "talkative guy" who was seated next to me moved back one row to bother "poor lone traveling girl". Although I would hear his blathering for the 4+ hour flight, it was muted by the back of my seat and not directed at me, so it was not that bad. I was able to curl up and actually get a little nap. Then I bought headphones for $2 and watched a movie with Ben Stiller and Jennifer Anniston, which got kind of skanky reviews, but I found it sufficiently funny in places and it moved fairly well and made the flight seem a little shorter. I used the restroom in a plane for the very first time. In all my 50+ years and having flown many times, never have I had to pee in a plane. Never, until this trip. It wasn't as formidable as I feared, and it flushed and everything, except I wondered where it went after it flushed. But I wondered only a minute or so. Arrived in beautiful, sunny, Southern California at about 11:30 am. Rented our car from a little India-Indian man who thought he was a comedian. After politely chuckling at his inanities for what seemed an eternity, and after declining the $15-a-day (!) insurance he was pushing, he stopped with the jokes and became a bit surly. More than likely because his "charm" hadn't worked to make us take the extra insurance and so - "no commission for you!". That's all I can figure. In any event, we were glad to be free of his phony glad-handing and whisked ourselves away in the rental car. (K got his full sized car, so he was happy.) While putting my bag in trunk, I stepped on a little ketchup package, which was full and busted and sprayed ketchup all over my right foot and leg. Thank you to whoever left it on the ground there in the parking garage, you bastard. On to Huntington Beach and K's favorite pastime - body surfin. K went in the motel and came out grinning, which is not always a good sign. He said he had saved so much money by not getting a speeding ticket that morning, he got the suite at $200 a night. Oh, well. Here we go. The bank account has sprung a leak and we haven't even been here 2 hours! The suite had a jacuzzi tub and looked out on the Pacific. It was OK, and a good way to start the "vacation"/wedding dance. We walked down to Main Street in Surf City, USA as Huntington Beach is defining itself these days. Same old surfboard shops, except bigger and glitzier. Kind of set the tone for the whole vacation. Having lived in So Cal all my life, and only moving to GA 10 years ago, this theme of "same but different" seemed to permeate my entire experience while there. I got fairly philosophical (me?) and thoughtful. This time, though, I enjoyed the visit to So Cal. Before, when I visited, I could not wait to leave. This time, I savored it, remembered it, cherished it. It felt more like home to me, not home like in it's good to be home, more like home in that it was familiar - I fit in - I knew it's rhythms and its smells. We wandered around and found a happy hour with $3 Mango Margaritas and we both had two, along with some great fish tacos and tender fried calamari. The angle of the light, the salty air, the waves and the sand - it was all so familiar. I remembered this place. I knew this place. 8:49 a.m. - 2004-05-25 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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