Quick Trip

Sleep was fitful last night. I knew I'd have to rise early and make my way to the airport and I don't really trust our new alarm clock. When we got the clock a few weeks ago, I had to read the book to set the clock to our normal wake up time. It works great but I've lost the book and I'm not sure how to set the clock to a new time. Anyhow, I set my iPhone and my PDA all for 3:30 a.m. When 3:30 came, the bedroom sounded like a clock store with one device after another alarming. I though Jilda was going to smother me with a pillow.
I made the trip to the airport without delay and had only about a 20 minute wait at the gate. The flight was delayed for about 30 minutes when a young woman who thought she had conquered her fear of flying realized she had not. She freaked when the plane backed away from the gate. There was a flurry of activity at her seat by stewardesses, one even tried to give her the "I conquered the fear of flying wings" but no dice.
The captain had no choice but to taxi back to the gate and let her get off. Thankfully no one complained loudly so hopefully she wasn't too embarrassed. I'm holding out hope that she will fly someday.
It was raining when we landed in Tampa but as I aimed the rental north, the clouds sped off to the east and the sun came out strong. I rolled the windows down and breathed in the warm Florida air.
When I arrived at Joe and Janet's house I was greeted by their dogs. They looked really mean, but like my lovely spouse, I'm a dog person and they recognized it at once. I petted them both up and after that we were bud's.
When I walked in, Joe had a big smile on his face that has been his friend all his life. Joe has lost a lot of weight, but he still has fire in his eyes. We sat and talked for a long while about friends, family and old times.
A few years ago, I borrowed a bunch of family pictures from my mom and scanned them onto my computer. As I was making my plans to visit Joe, I remembered the photos so I saved them on my thumb drive and brought them with me. We sat for a while and looked through the photographs.
Janet's mom and dad live a few doors away and they invited us to lunch with them. As always I pigged out. After lunch, we sat out on their front porch and enjoyed the warm breeze blowing from toward the Gulf of Mexico. Janet's brother was in town and came up with a couple guitars so we played old country and Gospel songs until our fingers hurt. It was a delightful afternoon.
I'll spend some time with them tomorrow before heading back north the Alabama.
I know I've only been away from home one day, but I miss my spouse, and Ol Buddy The Wonder Dog.