Life is a Journey
Waiting in Boston’s Logan Airport with my son,
the excitement so heightened that we had to call someone. No cell phones yet. The public phone was the avenue to call dad in Michigan.
“We’re on our way to Miami, the on to Guatemala. I heard Michael say.
He is a Leo and Leo’s are bound to travel. He radiates total joy when about to embark on an adventure to an exotic destination.
A month earlier he queried, “Do you want to go to Guatemala?”
I thought a minute and then said, “Why not?”
Our butts still a bit sore from the gamma globulin shots for the trip, we squirmed in the tight seats. We landed in Miami, the took off for Guatemala City.
We found a place to spend the night before the next leg to Tikal and the Mayan ruins.
Fell into bed, pretty tired.
Awoke the next morning, got to the airplane and boarded. We flew over dense jungle and were only aware of the color green. Landing at a remote airport, found a ride to the Tikal Inn. “Inn” isn’t exactly a New England B&B. It was a center frame building with a large screed in porch where delicious meals were served. Sleeping arrangements were in thatched roof huts on dirt floor, a shower that trickled cold water, a mosquito coil was nearby the twin beds. Lights went off at 9 pm. The jungle sounds surrounded us and a stagnant swimming pool was home to the mosquitos. When I screamed after I stepped on a baby mouse on my way to the bathroom, I knew I had to grin and bear it from then on. Getting used to a jungle after coming from a concrete world was an adjustment that night.
The next morning the bright sun shone on us as we walked onto the path that would lead us to the ruins of an ancient civilization. On our way, the howler monkeys breakeating in the treetops. We came to a clearing. And there they stood! The Mayan Temples, surrounding a rectangle of grass, larger than a football field. On the perimeter, stood a temple that towered above the trees. An older woman was climbing the steps. She was 84. Michael looked at me and said, “That should be your mantra mom, Temple IV at 84.”
These posts are great, Carole! I was going to leave a comment about the time I dodged a rat in a grass hut in Fiji back in the 60’s, but your line about “no cell phones yet” was too tempting.
I actually held off on getting my first cell phone until two months ago when my daughter raised such a ruckus, she threatened to disown me. Course she has so many communication devices going off simultaneously, she’s no longer capable of speaking in complete sentences . . . but that’s another story.
I finally ran out of my “too much trouble” excuses when somebody invented a “cell phone for dummies.” It’s got big buttons that light up when you push them and displays giant numbers on the screen as you dial. It even politely (or condescendingly, I’m not sure which) asks you if you’re really sure that’s the number you want to dial. Then I just push “yes” and suddenly I’ve stepped through the portal into the wireless millennium.
Course I keep the thing hidden in my purse since it resembles one of my granddaughter’s PlaySkool accessories . . . only it’s not hot pink and it’s not trimmed with sparkles.
But I’ll no longer have to circle the airport for an hour trying to pick up someone who is waiting on the wrong level.
🙂
Sharon
Sharon…thanks for looking and reading. Cell phones….nothing worse in traffic and in airports waiting for a flight…….but it’s my safety net if I have a flat tire. If the grandchild can have one, so can we! lol……And I agree, as I picked up my high school friend from Peoria last Monday at Hartford and we connected via the cell.