Traveling

The alarm went off at 4:45 AM. It’s my mother’s alarm clock, one I purchased for her after my father died and she had trouble waking up. For years, he was her alarm clock, never allowing her to sleep much past 7 AM. Once he was gone she began to have real trouble getting up at all. Part of that, I believe, was depression. On the other hand, she may have always wanted to sleep later than 7 but was aware my father needed her company.

My mom had trouble hearing a conventional alarm clock, something I’m very familiar with. Once I take my hearing aids out at bedtime, the world is a very quiet place. So, I bought her a clock aptly named “Sonic Boom.” I’m not sure she ever used it and as we were clearing out her apartment last June, I claimed it.

I’m invariably awake every morning by 6 AM at the latest. Most days I’m up having my coffee before 5:30. Today, in order to make a 6:30 plane to California, I had to be up at 4:45 AM. Having to be up that early always causes some anxiety. I usually don’t hear the regular alarm clock. I can rely on Dick, but I thought it would be an opportunity to try the Sonic Boom to see how effective it is. The alarm clock not only has a very loud alarm; it also connects to the bedside light, causing it to flash off and on at the selected time.

I am happy to report the clock worked well. The alarm sounded and the light flashed. It woke me up. I don’t know if it also awoke our upstairs neighbor. It was pretty loud if I heard it without my hearing aids.

The flight from Newark to San Francisco left on time in spite of heavy rain. I think it was the first time I’ve been on a large plane flown by a woman. The flight was uneventful and arrived in SF on time. I had a window seat and once we were out of the cloudy, wet New York area, the views were amazing. It’s so interesting to see how the landscape changes as you travel west across the continent.

I’m now waiting for the connecting flight to Eureka/Arcata. I had hoped to post live, but the free local wi-fi does not seem to be working and T-Mobile put me through such an ordeal to get a one hour pass that I gave up. Every time I filled out the form, it was rejected for some minor reason. T-Mobile then totally cleared the form expecting me to start over. Even with auto fill, it just wasn’t worth the trouble.

When I wasn’t looking out the window, I was working on knitting projects. I took some progress pictures in the airport. Carlos is so close to being finished:

And, Laughing Carrots is really coming along:

My goal is to finish those two and Oriental Lily before it’s time to fly home.