DALY CITY, CALIF.–Home at last. Thank god almighty, I’m home at last. Despite (or perhaps, given) last night’s flight debacle, this flight seemed rather pleasant. On the plane I sat next to this friendly lady with her seven-month-old son, who was quite well behaved for a baby on a five-hour flight. “He’s flown to Asia twice, so this is nothing,” the proud mother said. Ah, not even a year old, and already the little tyke’s a frequent flyer. As the plane approached SFO, the woman and I chatted a bit and waxed nostalgic about the Bay Area, how scenic and lovely and lively it is.
By the way, the inflight movies were Scooby Doo again–has someone told Freddie Prinze, Jr. that he makes neither a convincing nor an attractive blond?–and Insomnia, which I’d already seen. And the flight was long enough to show some TV programming after the movies. Frasier? No, I wasn’t so lucky. It was America’s Funniest Home Videos, from the Bob Saget era. Yikes. Now if that isn’t enough to make you locate the nearest emergency exit (which may be behind you), and take hold of your seat cushion (which also acts as a flotation device). So I read a big chunk of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
I arrived at SFO around 9:30 a.m. I walked out of the airport terminal and waited at the departures curb for my parents to pick me up. Ah, fresh air. The current weather here is tropical compared to the East Coast. Definitely a far cry from Newark, where my gloves, scarf, and wool cap were straining to keep out the cold. So we got home in time to catch some of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade coverage on TV. (Speaking of TV, last night I watched The Amazing Race at the hotel. Ooh, it’s getting good.) This Thanksgiving my parents and I had planned to have big lunch out at a restaurant, but after some deliberation, we just headed to Safeway and put together a meal of both store-bought and homemade dishes. So many dishes, in fact, that we’re set for days. We even decided to forgo the pumpkin pie for now, and save it for tonight after dinner. Mmm, good. Time for a nap.