April 17, 2023- The earnest woman seated next to me, on the flight from San Jose to Phoenix, inquired about my work in the shelter. I mentioned that there were 350 people in the three halls, combined. She replied, “That’s not all that many people”. Compared with her place of service to the Red Cross-New Orleans Superdome, during Hurricane Katrina, it certainly wasn’t; but, we made a difference to those starfishes. That’s what matters most. She did thank me, profusely, on behalf of the people of her native Santa Cruz County. It turns out that she grew up a block away from Rio Sands Hotel, in Aptos, but was heading to Snowflake, AZ, for some personal work.

The day started with a sumptuous breakfast in Holiday Inn’s Santa Cruz Room, followed by a shuttle to the airport, courtesy of a would-be NASCAR driver, or so it seemed. He got five of us to the airport, in less than three minutes, so I had plenty of time to sit and reflect. There is no reliable WiFi at SJC, but there is a wonderfully soothing massage chair-30 minutes for $ 5.00. It was heavenly, after two weeks of constant movement, with only nightly sit-ups and crunches to relieve any soreness.

After watching my seatmate heading, pell mell, towards her next flight, I waited-very patiently-for an hour, before the bags from our flight arrived on a different carousel from that listed. There were about ten of us who wondered as to the fate of our bags. We landed at 2:20; the bags came up on the chute at 3:23. It was a good thing that I had signed up for the 4:20 shuttle to Prescott!

At 6:25, I pulled into the driveway, having retrieved the Sportage from the shuttle’s parking lot. As the task of unloading my bags ensued, the scent of apple blossoms wafted in the rather comfortable evening air. Spring is indeed upon us!