When Are We?

(Dec. 9, although possibly Dec. 8 or 10) Lily and I have had our fannies firmly planted in airline seats for 22 hours today. Count ‘em: 22 -- Charleston to Dulles (1 hour), Dulles to Tokyo (13½ hours), Tokyo to Singapore (7½ hours). Trust me, our fannies are not pleased with this arrangement, and our backs aren’t entirely thrilled either. Like so many others, we have experienced this before -- these long trips -- which tells you how strong the pull is of our chosen destination that we would endure this numbing, voluntary incarceration. We mentally wave out our window at Ontario, the Yukon, the Northern Slopes of Alaska, the Aleutians, Vladivostok, Okinawa, Guam, and Borneo. From 35,000 feet, it’s all the same. We not only endure, but look forward to, the airline’s less than elegant attempts at food service since, if nothing else, it provides a break in the otherwise totally stalled and bland action of air travel.

It is a matter of some hilarity that we attempt, futilely, to figure out what time it is, which is, of course, impossible. Time is a moving target up here. Do we look at our watches and say to ourselves it’s 5 p.m. when that’s eastern standard time, or do we keep track of the ever-changing time zones below? Like the intrepid, but confused, heroes in “Lost,” it is far better not to ask “where are we?,” but rather “when are we?”

Walking the aisles at “night” in our jumbo jet, it is amusing to see how others meet the challenge. There are, of course, the stubborn few with open books or laptops, and others watching, glazed over, their sixth movie. Mostly, folks try -- vainly, I believe -- to find a position where sleep will provide a much needed escape from this seemingly endless monotony. You have your folks with sleep masks, face masks, and many others with blankets pulled over their heads. Others appear as comfortable as one might when bracing for a head-on collision, but with their eyes closed, as if by jamming their eyelids shut they can force unconsciousness upon themselves. Some say you should set your watch to that of your destination and start adjusting to that when you take your seat. Yeah, good luck with that.

Oh, the joy! After a 6 hour layover in Singapore, we head out in the early a.m. again, only this time for another multi-hour aerial hike, this time to Phuket.

I’m thinking even Cary Grant would look a bit disheveled after this, don’t you?