Departure

I was going to write a blog post for New Year's Day, but then I didn't. Same for the day after, and the day after that, etc. Now I'm up to January 8. Nuria, my domestic partner, is going to fly to Costa Rica tomorrow to visit family and to do some health checkups with her doctors. I have to drive her to the Richmond airport (RIC) in the morning. 

Also tomorrow, we're supposed to get torrential rain and strong winds, up to 40mph. Not hurricane strength but enough to push my Jeep around on a wet interstate highway. I am not happy with driving round trip to Richmond in heavy rain and strong winds, and then back home in weather that will only be worse as the day progresses.

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January 9. We arise at 6 AM. By 7:30 we're ready to leave. So we leave and get on the interstate headed to Richmond.

The rain pours down in torrents. I'm on I-95, going slow (55 mph) in the rightmost lane. The wind blows hard across the interstate. Once per second, my windshield wipers give me a split second of clear vision before water covers the windshield again. I really hate this.

Near the Bellwood interchange, I-95 shows us what heavy traffic is like. Traffic moves slower and slower until it's stop-and-go, stop-and go, stop-and-go, all the way into Richmond. I get off at the I-64 exit, headed east. Traffic on the other side of I-64 (westbound) is stopped. Car wreck? Typical morning big-city traffic congestion? I don't know, but I make a mental note: do not return home on this road.

I found my way to the Departures part of the RIC airport terminal. It's on the second level of the terminal. I drive to the American Airlines portion of the building then jump out and pull the luggage out of the Jeep and set it down on the paved apron in front of the terminal. A nearby porter immediately offers to help. With a quick kiss, I say goodbye to Nuria. "Call me when you get home," she says. Of course I will.

I take a different route home. I drive US-60 east, through the small community of Sandston, and then onto I-295 south. I drive until I reach the Hopewell exit. I should take the first exit, but I'm not sure and so I take the second exit. This puts me on the far side of Hopewell from where I want to be. Oh, well.

I drive southwest through Hopewell until I encounter Temple Avenue, the road I will take to get home. I get on Temple and about twenty minutes later I'm pulling my Jeep up to my back door. I take a few things into the house then park the Jeep in my garage. Rain is still falling, but it's normal rain, not torrential rain.

I go inside and make a WhatsApp call to Nuria. She knows I made it home. The weather slowly gets better until by noon I can't see any rain falling, nor any wind blowing. By 2 PM there is a gentle breeze, but no rain is visible from my windows. 

I get a text from Nuria at 2:30 PM. Charlotte airport is packed, the weather is bad, flights are being canceled. Her next flight is to Miami, arriving there at 10:49PM. After that, her next flight leaves Miami tomorrow morning at 8:35 AM and arrives in San Juan International (SJO) at 10:35 AM (Costa Rican time). Costa Rica is an hour behind US east coast time. When I have Daylight Time, Costa Rica is two hours behind my time.

It's almost 3 PM now. I'll publish this little blog post and I'll go find something else to do. Nuria left an apple pie on the dining room table. It's calling my name. No, evil pie, don't call my name. Noooo. I'll deal with you tonight after dinner.

One thing I almost forgot: Nuria bought a bottle (1.75 liter) of Maker's Mark as a gift for her sister in Costa Rica. The friendly people at the airport took the bottle away from Nuria. They said it was "too large." So now I'm wondering, what happens to all the legal items that they steal confiscate? Do they throw them away, or do the airline employees keep them? Nuria said she'll buy another bottle for her sister. To which I say, with one of my favorite toasts: “God, in his goodness, sent the grapes, to cheer both great and small; little fools will drink too much, and great fools none at all.”

(I know Maker's Mark isn't made from grapes, but it's the sentiment that matters.)