Distance Life

I just returned from one of my seasonal trips to Indiana, my other home. Traveling back and forth can be a grind, but I must like it because I’m looking up flights for the next trip. It takes 2 hours and 10 minutes to get from Jacksonville to Chicago, but that is not what actually happens. Time is invested in getting to and from airports, checking in, waiting in the airport and getting luggage. I would love to walk out my front door and be at my destination in the 2 hours and 10 minutes it actually takes to get there!  So, I redeem the time. I do work on my laptop, play a game or read on my Kindle app on my iPad. Or I muse, gazing out the window, at the topography, roads, buildings and clouds (I always try to get a window seat). At takeoff, I become like a child as I listen to the jet engines accelerate, the plane goes from dead stop or slow crawl to whooshing, forceful “V_r”(rotation speed) which is a fun 200 or so mph. Then the giant metal thing actually angles up from the runway and leaves the ground! Yes, I still marvel.

While in the air, my thoughts, when not amusing myself with my previously mentioned activities go here and there:  What do I need to do or plan to do once I arrive at whichever home I’m headed to, reminisces of mothering days and wistful empty nest thoughts, my erstwhile question of what am I supposed to be doing or doing differently in my occupation.

Sometimes I wonder if I am pursuing my passion. That’s what I keep hearing about from one speaker or blogger or another. I am kind of diverse so I am not always sure what it is. Being a mom is a major but I, er, have been laid off due to lack of work. Haha. No really, I am being humorous. I like scrapbooking . So that would be arranging all the pictures and mementos of motherhood days, huh. Bingo, there we are again. But I do love scrapbooking and would like to do more of it.

While away I live in our house alone until my husband joins me for the last week of the trip. I used to consider myself a loner because I don’t need constant interaction. I now know better. I like having people around even though any/all people = drama. Right?  It's quite a paradox. I have gained a whole new respect for folks who live alone. My Aunt Rose lived alone almost 50 years from the time her husband died until she passed away at age 101. And she didn’t even have a pet! How did she do it? I have had to grow in that area and God has helped me progress.

Distance Life. For the last 12 years, it has been my life, and I have gone through lots of phases.  This last year of traveling to and fro three or four weeks at a time in Indiana several times during the year feels like my reward for the struggle. Takeaway is God has helped me with it and through it all. He is good and really does make all things work together for my good. (Romans 8:28)