It’s 4:00 AM in Tucson when the alarm goes off at the motel by the airport.  We get up and put final stuff in the suitcases, perform all toileting functions and leave forgetting the charging cord for my iPhone, which is still in the wall outlet.  We arrive at the airport and turn in our rental car.  Not a long line at security so after sanitizing our hands again we proceed to our gate with an eye out for something to eat.  A Dunkin’ Donuts is open but only has food with lots of gluten so I settle for an OJ to split with Denny and he has a muffin and coffee.  A pitstop before boarding where I can’t remember past “Space: the final frontier” so I opt for the ABC song for my 20 seconds of hand-washing–next time maybe Yankee Doodle. We board the plane and they ask about beverages.  I ask for a cup of hot tea and receive a cup of hot water!  Finally an apologetic flight attendant  brings me a tea bag.  I manage to sleep a little.  We arrive in Chicago-Midway early to add to our already 2 1/2 hour time between planes.  I call the motel and am told it’s not their policy to mail anything including my charger but I can arrange a pick-up by UPS or Fedex but it hardly seems worth the effort.  For now Denny and I will share a charger.

Denny goes to get a soda to share and the fountain gives him mostly soda water with a hint of root beer.  Works for me as I prefer just seltzer but not so much for him.  I read my many emails with all the cancelations and look around at all the gloved hands and face masks and wonder how safe I am.  I also wonder if I’ll be able to find food and TP on our return.  I’ve heard that with global warming we can expect more of these pandemics.  Guess this is our practice run and our government seems to be failing miserably.  Trump is like Alfred E. Neuman–“What me worry?”

Denny has brought food–hurray!  Even though my bionic clock is still on PDT I will work to adapt.  Lunch over and another trip to the bathroom with new songs to sing before boarding again.  Denny coming back says the world is truly changing as all the men are now washing their hands!

Back on the plane with just the two of us in a three passenger seating row again.  I feel a little better not having three people jammed together with strange germs.  We make it to Hartford and at the airport bathroom two young kids come in.  I get them to sing the ABCs with me while they wash their hands–very cute! Then I manage to get our first Uber ride to our friend Loretta’s house where we left our car.  Much easier than I thought. I guess I’m not as much of a Luddite as I imagined.

Driving home in daylight at 6:30!  Nice to have DST again.  It almost makes up for the jet lag.  Other observations–more trees, especially deciduous and the mountains around us have shrunk quite a bit.  But the reliable Red-tailed Hawk is still with us.

We grab a bite at Wendy’s and pick up a few groceries to get us through breakfast.  It’s been a long day and we have so many canceled activities to look forward to.  And so to bed.  Be well, stay safe, and wash your hands!