Blank Again, Poetic Asides, Panama 27

 Delayed Again

 

Sat in the Pheonix airport,

Delayed for three hours.

Arrived in Fort Lauderdale.

Had a wonderful cruise in Central America.

Back in Fort Lauderdale.

Delayed again.

Missed connection in Dallas.

Delayed again.

No flight till morning.

Counted the hours.

Dozed off with my backpack as a pillow.

Seven AM finally came around.

On the plane, pilot announces,

“Maintenance Issue.”

Delayed again.

Finally in Mesa with my kids.

Going home this weekend.

Next trip, three weeks later.

I hope I’m not delayed again.

Panama 26

 Sitting in Ft Lauderdale Airport

 

We had an early start

The ship to disembark

And now I sit and sit and sit

And I’ll eat in just a bit

Then it will be time to sit some more

I can’t wait to go out the door

And to Phoenix I will fly

And be picked up by my son Eli

And then Hubby will be waiting

And greet me as if we’re dating

And Lori in I will play Canasta

It’s fun even though she’s the mast’ah

Panama 25

 

Last Day

 

Packing, eating, resting

Trivia, art gallery, Splendor

Bye to Matthew the Chef

Our last day aboard the ship.

 

Then Sis is off to Lincoln

And I’m off to Phoenix

As kids, could we ever imagine

traveling the world together?

 

Panama 24

 

Winding Down

 

Penultimate day on the Viking Mars

Splendor is a favorite pastime of ours

We also learned to paint cute toucans

And we fit doing laundry into our plans

It was Sunday and church service was great

And we heard that the Sea Hawks can celebrate

We ate meals late because I had slept in

Nine hours of sleep, what a way to begin!

Now we’re headed for our last day of vacay

We’ve got to do some packing on our last day.

cold, Poetic Bloomings, Panama 23

 

There’s Cold and There’s COLD

 

I remember

December 28^th 1981,

when my daughter

birthed into a frigid world

of 16 below in Craig Colorado.

 

And then it got really cold,

40 below for two weeks running.

 

That’s when my carpenter husband

jumped into his truck

and the seat cracked,

and he could break off his beard.

 

When the heater malfunctioned

and our baby wore a snowsuit indoors.

 

When a washcloth froze in our sink.

 

When it made it up to 18 degrees,

and I told my mom on the phone

that it felt warm.

 

It’s hard to imagine, now,

sailing on the Caribbean Sea

after two weeks of taking in the sun

at the beach, kayaking and tubing,

and climbing waterfalls in shorts and tee.

 

It’s hard to imagine

as I head to Florida,

then Arizona, then back to Colorado

what it’s going to be like

working at the Nature Center

where sometimes the snow

is measured in feet, not inches.

 

 

 

Panama 22

 Cozumel, Mexico

 

Island

Mayan ruins

Two iguanas upstaged the ruins

Painting class, psychedelic Owl

Shopping,

Games of Splendor,

and, of course eating, eating,

and more eating.

How will I ever get accustomed

to life back home?

Panama 21

 

Along in Belize

 

Long tender ride from ship

Long ride in bus

Long walk

Long kayaking through long river caves

Long float down river in innertubes

Long ride back in bus

Long tender ride back to ship

It will be a long-time memory.