Green Jello Hotdish

(7:38 a.m. Auckland, Dec. 2, 2006)

I’m at the Auckland airport now, waiting for my next flight. (It begins boarding in 80 minutes, according to the fancy little screens they have going on.) I love international gates at airports. There’s just so much culture to see, and it’s a great place to people watch and interact.

The architecture of the airport, while pretty utilitarian, is quite impressive. There is so much natural light, and it has an open and airy feeling – a far cry from LAX, Midway and O’Hare! But I’m having a hard time looking at Christmas trees decorated next to the natural flora. Sort of a convergence of ideas or something.

(A parade of Air New Zealand flight crew just walked through. It was really funny. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s the jet lag already setting in, but I chuckled and masked it with a cough – know how that goes? – and I’m not thinking I was very successful, because the last row of them looked right at me with a puzzled look.)

I sat next to some people from Denver on my flight here. When I told them I started out the morning in Milwaukee, the people behind me informed me that they, too, were from Milwaukee. (One of the suburbs, specifically.) They flew from Mitchell to LAX, and ran into the same turbulence I did. As I predicted, I slept most of the flight. Thank goodness, because otherwise I would probably be a lot crankier right now.

So far, I love New Zealand. At what other airport do I get to look out of huge windows, and see a forest outside, pushed up right next to the runway? The American assumption in development that, in order to be successful, one must clear-cut and pave over the entire area (or seed some trite, pathetic form of grass) is disgusting. And it’s always nice to get away – anywhere – and not be bound to the pressures of time and rush.

Talk to you again in Sydney!

I’ve arrived at LAX, not without a few unexpected twists and turns along the way. I started the morning at the Milwaukee Amtrak station (thanks, Paul, for dropping me off) only to walk in to an announcement that the train to Chicago I was expecting to take was 30 minutes delayed due to a Metra “grade accident.” I took that to mean a car-train accident, but 30 minutes wasn’t going to be a big deal. As I was finishing up the ticketing process, the next announcement came that all trains for the morning were not running, and the next train out wasn’t going to leave until AFTER my flight was to leave Midway.

Some last minute scrambling, a $15 cab ride later, I’m on the road en route to Kenosha. Chris was my saving grace for the day and offered to drive me to Midway, so I got there with plenty of time.

As the morning went on, more and more flights were being delayed. Luckily, mine was only 30 minutes delayed (seeing a trend?) and we were up in the air quickly once we were set to go. We hit terrible turbulence along the way, which wasn’t helping the situation of my hating flying. I sat next to an interesting character, which made the flight that much better. In the end, we made it in to Los Angeles only 15 minutes behind schedule, and my luggage made the whole trek, so it was good overall.

Now I’m waiting for the long flight. Twelve hours from LAX to Auckland, New Zealand. I keep thinking of the flight here as being not horribly unbearable and 1/3 of the flight to Auckland. I’m not sure if that positive thinking is going to continue to work, however.

I’ve brought a number of books with me to read, including Barbara Erenreich’s new book “Bait and Switch.” So far it’s very typical of Erenreich’s writing style, but rather dry. I’m about halfway through it, and the ah-hah moment is nowhere to be found. I think I’ll finish up the book two hours into the flight or so, and call it a night.

Look for more updates as I continue my vacation!

I’m leaving for Minnesota tomorrow for the Thanksgiving holiday. Besides catching up with family, I have a couple of other things on my list:

• Checking out the finished Midtown Exchange development in Minneapolis’ Chicago-Lake Neighborhood. (Which has apparently been renamed Midtown, I assume in honor of the redevelopment. For wonderful stories of Christian ministry in this area, visit my home congregation, Mount Olive Lutheran Church, at Chicago and E 31st.)
• A reflective walk through the Walker Sculpture Garden.
• Walking through the new Mill City Museum.
• Buzzing by the new Guthrie Theater facility.
• Avoiding, at all possible costs, late autumn outdoor work with my father.

A blessed Thanksgiving to one and all, regardless of the original story we’ve all come to believe.