On the road

The discombobulated traveler (me) arrived safely in Pittsburgh yesterday after a plane ride of an hour and a half that took less time than the bus ride from the airport, which took so long I thought I was going to Ohio.

In this age of Nooks and Kindles, I might have been the only one lugging a 100-pound book (David McCullough's "The Greater Journey, Americans in Paris") in my already overflowing oversize purse. And I didn't see anyone else take their suitcase off the belt in security and drop it on their shoeless foot.

But seriously, everything really went fine, and I'm glad to be here visiting my friend Emily. You could see the airport experience as a trial run for the big trip I'm taking with Katie in a few weeks. I've gotten kind of slow (my brother-in-law correctly calls me "Pokey"), and it was a good exercise to keep up with the crowds.

I started the day with tennis, then made my traditional stop at Starbucks and headed down to Bradley Airport with plenty of time to spare, unlike my usual running around.

Whenever I go anyplace with Emily or go to visit her, she monitors my progress. "Are you awake?" "Are you on the way to the airport?" "Are you at the gate?"

Now why she would think I'd have trouble getting to the plane on time, I have no idea.

In any case, I did text her from the gate that I was sitting calmly. It's really much better than my usual mode of getting everyplace at the last minute, or the minute after.

Today her friend Davida joined us for a walk in the woods. I was happy to find two walking sticks which enabled me to stay relatively steady on the path and soak in the soothing quality of the water below. I walked about three miles,with intermittent help from Emily or Davida giving me a hand up or down a tricky spot.

Tonight we're going to see Tony Kushner's "Angels in America," with dinner before in a neighborhood restaurant. The restaurant is about two miles away, and since it's nice out, I think we're going to walk. Too bad I tossed the walking sticks. They probably don't grow on trees in the city.