Mysteries

On My Way

Hello, from 35,000 feet in the air — give or take 1,342 feet. I’m writing this post from my window seat as I fly over the flyovers on my way to a writing retreat in Northern California. In fact, when this goes live on Friday, I’ll be with my old writing group getting ready for a weekend of wine drinking, catching up, and maybe even a little writing.

There is a little boy sitting three rows up who has been screaming since the flight took off: “Help! Heeelllppp! Heeeeeeellllllpppppp!” For some reason, it’s making me laugh, maybe because it beats the alternative, which is to sigh deeply and get a headache. 

I miss travel. It’s been a while since I’ve taken a “just for fun” trip and not a “must go to tend to family things in another state” trip. And there are few things that make me happier than sitting on an airplane looking forward to whatever adventure I’m headed to. 

This trip in particular is exciting because I’ll get to see old friends, eat at the restaurants I miss the most, and go hiking in one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever hiked, an earthquake tumbled terrain with gorgeous redwood forests and spectacular views all the way across the Bay to San Francisco. 

We’re now half an hour in and the child three rows up is still weeping. I can even hear him through my noise cancelling headphones that my husband gifted me for just such an occasion. He’s still furious — the kid, not my husband — but he’s no longer begging for Child Protective Services to intervene.

But for me, this trip isn’t just about getting out of the house and having a much-needed adventure. It’s actually the kick in the seat of the pants I need to get me back into writing more regularly. These ladies are serious, and while I know we’re going to have an amazing time, I find that nothing inspires me and motivates me quite like other people’s expectations.

Besides, it would be silly to fly across the country to go to a writing retreat and not actually, you know, write. 

Good news: I realized that if I take off my noise cancelling headphones, it’s actually better, because then the sound of the airplane and people crunching on Maui Monk Mini Pretzel Braids is helping created a white noise barrier.  

Now: the real dilemma is… what am I going to work on while I’m there? I have starts to WAY too many projects. But sometime between now (Tuesday evening) and when you’re reading this, I’m going to have to commit to one project. Which makes it totally worth the price of a plane ticket, the harried packing and car renting, and the little boy four rows up, who is now screaming “I dooon’t waaaant thiiiiis!” and banging together two metal items of unknown origin.

Postscript: When I arrived at the home of my hostess, she was wearing a tee-shirt from the exact place the body is found in on of my partially written manuscripts. I’m taking this as a sign that that’s what I’m meant to work on this weekend. Wish me luck!

Readers: What are you looking forward to? 

34 thoughts on “On My Way”

  2. MARLA: Have a fun, productive writing retreat!!

    As I write this, it is pre-dawn Friday in my Vancouver BC hotel room. After leaving Ottawa on March 25 to go on a solo trip to Singapore & Taipei, Taiwan, I am on the last leg of this trip heading home!

    It had snowed several times during my time away. I don’t want to see a white landscape upon landing but I will be glad to return home.

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  3. I’m looking forward to Sleuthfest in St. Petersburg, FL, in May. Since I achieved membership in the MWA, they’ve asked me to participate in the con as a presenter or panelist – I don’t know which yet as I haven’t gotten my assignment. But it’s sure to be a good time.

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  5. M, your patience is admirable. I was losing it just reading about that kid! I’m of course looking forward to Malice in two weeks. But I’m really excited about going back to NOLA for B’con in early September. The NOLA part is #1 on the call street. I may not be spending a lot of time at the actual con, lol.

    Yay to you finding your inspiration, BTW!

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    1. Thanks, Ellen! I wish I were joining you guys at Malice but in the meantime, waving to you from NorCal. Too bad this is such a big state or I’d say let’s meet for lunch!

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  6. Congratulations on surviving the trip! I hope you have an amazing time. I spent last week in South Florida, so I’m still in recovery mode from that. I am looking forward to seeing writing friends at Malice Domestic at the end of the month.

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  7. M, you are an angel. I’ll be cussing out the parents because the kid wasn’t letting me sleep.

    You need to listen to the tshirt!

    good for you to do a retreat. I might be doing one soon, depending on lots of circumstances that keep changing.

    what am I looking forward to? Seeing some of the chicks at malice! I so need this me time!

    hugs

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    1. I’ve never had a tee-shirt decide my fate before, but it definitely felt like a sign.

      So glad you’re getting to go to Malice… and wish I could go so I could finally meet you in person!

      P.S. That kid’s poor parents…. I feel lucky that I was in a giddy mood and found it hilarious. It doesn’t hurt that I was juuuust far enough back. 🙂

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  8. Yay! Hope you have a wonderful writing retreat and friend time and everything! It sounds absolutely dreamy. How cool that you got a sign about which project to work on. Happpy writing!

    I do not have a trip coming up but it was so beyond joyful to catch up with friends at Left Coast Crime.

    ps: Love the description of the flight. Sounds like you got the fancy pretzels!

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    1. Those *were* some fancy pretzels! It’s good to be somewhere different. I’m sitting here with the doors flung open and the cool breeze wafting in… I wonder if I could just move in permanently? Send for my things!!

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      1. Oh, I LOVE those pretzel braids! I got lucky on my recent trip to Baltimore when my two seatmates gifted me their snacks. And then on the way home I found a stash of candy I’d become obsessed with that my son had hidden in my purse, bless his widdle heart. It’s the simple things in life, eh?

        Cranky kids never bother me because they’re not mine! I can tune them out guilt-free. And, honestly, those poor kids. Dragged around without even getting a vote on anything. Maybe they just wanted more Maui pretzel braids.

        Hope your trip is fun and productive!

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        1. Yeah, I really was just happy he wasn’t mine! Poor parents! I was too excited about my trip to be bothered by it, and I actually just found it weirdly funny. (I got double Maui pretzels and felt pretty lucky — they’re good!)

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  9. You should have helped that kid. He was being taken home after a fabulous time on vacation. I fully understand where he is coming from and I’m rather upset you didn’t do something to help him. 🙂

    Have a great time!

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    2. I always make funny faces at a screaming kid, or wave and give them a big smile behind their parents’ backs. It stops the screaming dead as they stare at me in confusion. Sometimes I even get a smile back. Maybe it resets them? The best part is the parents’ reactions, though, because they have no idea why their kid suddenly shut up, lol. Anyway, loved this, and hope you’re having a super productive time. Even if you don’t get a ton of writing done, the change in routine and scenery is a good thing and you’ll be inspired when you get back (or as you’re eating pretzels on the way home).

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      1. I’ve tried that before… Always fun when it works! I was too far back to try to distract this particular kid, but that’s also why it was easier to tolerate.

        And yes, the change in scenery is working wonders already. We went and hiked in the Armstrong Redwoods this morning and it was gooooorgeous!

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        1. I grew up in Santa Rosa, not too far from Armstrong Redwoods. Go out there with my family sometimes when I’m home for a visit since we all love redwoods.

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  10. I’m looking forward to some day reading whatever it is you decide to work on at your writing retreat this weekend, M. I am SO glad you’re back in the writing saddle again!

    On our flight to CA from Hawai’i this week, we had a kid in the same row screaming for the last two hours “Make it stop! Please make it stop!” I guess she had an ear ache or something, poor kid, but boy was it painful for the rest of us, as well. And then she was on the next leg as well, just behind us. Oy. Luckily–for her and us–the pain must have subsided, and she calmed down after a few minutes on that leg.

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    1. Ohhhh, that’s so sad when kiddos get the earaches. I dread when Southwest moves to assigned seating (boooooo!!!) because the only thing that saved me is jumping up and moving back several rows when I saw what was about to happen.

      Thanks for cheering me on! This trip is just what I needed to get back on track.

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  11. Ooo, I once had to fly from Atlanta, GA to Buffalo, NY sitting next to a kid who – I kid you not – kicked the arm rest for the entire flight. I feel your pain.

    I’m looking forward to Malice in a couple of weeks and seeing everyone again.

    Southwest is moving to assigned seating???

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  13. My mother was a stewardess for Pan American in 1943 from Brownsville, Texas to New Orleans. I wish that she had told me about her travels and what she experienced while my father was in WWII. But neither one told me things until later in life, I learned what my Daddy did in France and Germany somewhat.

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