August 7, 2002
Dear Everyone:
Last week’s first Annual Wood Family Reunion, in
“Upton Lake”,
New York,
contained some surprises.
One surprise came when we arrived in
Chicago, late.
Our connecting flight to
Albany had left without us.
Now, it wasn’t our fault that we were late.
It wasn’t even the airline’s fault.
It was the weather.
Due to thunderstorms near Chicago, our flight stayed on the ground for
an hour before taking off for O’Hare International Airport.
(“Marshall”, who was to meet us on the Albany leg of the trip,
reported that the Albany
flight also left late, but not late enough for us.)
Once “Jeannie” and I were sure that our flight had
already left (the sign reading “San
Diego” over the gate was a big clue), we got into
line at the Customer Service counter.
We were there for over an hour before our turn came, but at least
we didn’t have a couple of toddlers to contend with like some women had.
Nor did some other (presumably) adults who loudly proclaimed that
their connecting flight should not have been allowed to take off without
them. And furthermore, they
would “never use this airline again”.
Like, they thought all the other airlines had somehow been
exempted from the weather?
A rather tired-looking customer service rep looked
at our boarding passes from the flight-that-would-not-wait.
He told us that they had already anticipated that our flight
would not arrive in time and had already computed the alternative that
would get us to Albany
as soon as possible. This
meant flying from Chicago
to
Boston later in the evening.
Then take a flight from Boston to
Dulles, getting in just after
midnight. Six
hours later, another flight would get us from Dulles to
Albany
by something after 9:00
the next morning.
“Jeannie” pointed out that if we couldn’t get to Albany that night, we
might as well stay overnight in
Chicago
and take another flight on Monday.
It’s not as if we were going to be late for a Very Important
Business Meeting. It was a
Family Reunion; we’d be seeing each other for days.
So the (rather relieved) rep booked us on a 1:35 PM flight and gave us a voucher
for half-off on a hotel room.
However, our luggage would continue on to
Albany
without us. This was about
the only time that I had checked both bags through.
I usually keep the small bag, with toiletries, cosmetics and
such, with me; but this time I thought, “What could possibly go wrong?”
(Note to self: Always
carry the small bag on board.)
The airline provided us with a couple of traveler
survival kits: Disposable
toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, shampoo, etc.
When we (finally) got to the hotel, we headed straight for the
gift shop to purchase a couple of T-shirts ($51 worth) to serve as night
clothes. And gladly paid the
price for the raid on the mini-bar.
The next surprise came one evening at “Alice” and
“Kelly’s” charming home (where we each had our own bedroom, more or
less). As we were lounging
around the deck and backyard (huge yard, including a spring-fed pond and
a barn) after dinner, a young
skunk decided to pay a
visit. He (she?) waddled
over the bridge at the far end of the pond and appeared intent upon
joining us. “Marshall”
grabbed the dog’s collar before she could go play with the “kitty”, and
I grabbed the Harry, the family cat, and took him indoors.
Not wanting to risk scaring the skunk
(understandably), “Kelly” used the hose, spraying water on the visitor
in an effort to discourage him from approaching any closer.
However, the skunk appeared to find the unexpected shower rather
refreshing and kept coming back for more.
Eventually, though, he grew bored with it all and ambled off
toward the neighbor’s red barn and on to parts unknown.
The last surprise came at the airport in Chicago when I was getting ready to board the
final flight back to
Oakland.
A security guard selected me for an additional “random” security
check. Actually, it seemed
that she selected whoever came up to the gate just as she had finished
with the last person. On the
other hand, she was very interested in my backpack-style purse.
I don’t think she thought I was using it to smuggle any kind of
contraband. She just wanted
to know where I’d bought it.
As for the first Annual Wood Family Reunion, it was
a rousing success. I deduced
this from the number of times someone said, “Next year, we should plan
to...”.
Love, as always,
Pete