I burrow deep wrapped in soft blue flannel sheets. In the distance my high altitude alarm clock, Alaska Airlines 6am flight to Seattle.
I burrow deeper. In forty-eight hours I will fly away on that same early flight, get my required Covid test and then head to Kona.
A flight attendant will serve me a drink with an orchid. She will wear a lei and a smile. Her face and arms will be a golden brown.
I have grown to love these flannel sheets, my morning coffee, short days and dark nights. It was the incessant rain and the Russell Wilson
discount that put this journey in motion.
Now, with hotels booked, cars rented and friends lined up, I feel anchored to home.
Finally, I unsaddle from flannel and find the plastic tote labeled ?summer clothes?. I unfasten the lid and rummage around in all that
colorful cotton. An orange dress from Bali, a red Shalwar kameez from India, a pair of cute shorts from a boutique in Melbourne.
My world traveler self is in this box. Yes, it is hard to leave the comforts of home and travel. It is even more daunting during a pandemic.
But when I step off the plane into a warm breeze, inhale the scent of plumeria, taste my first papaya and plunge into the Pacific I won?t miss my flannel sheets.
Not for a minute.