... and then staying up much much later than normal, when we sat and talked until nearly 11:00 p.m. Due to mostly having to be at my place of employ at 5 or 6 o'clock, getting up long before daylight is not unusual. As we all know, it will eventually catch up with you and cause random intermittent napping at inappropriate times, or the desperate need to go to bed the minute you get home from a long day at work. It is amazing I was able to stay awake so late when I got off the flight to Richmond, and sit and chat without dozing off mid-sentence, like someone with a certified sleep disorder.
My favorite travel agent found tickets for me to purchase weeks ago, that would take me to spend several days in VA. Reporting it would be considerably cheaper to leave ATL on Sunday afternoon, as opposed to flying out on Monday, which was a holiday with higher rates. After working for eight hours on Sunday, I jumped in my car to drive to Decatur, where I left my car parked and hitched a ride to the airport.
Anxiously found the gate where I needed to be in ample time for boarding at 5:02, in a new concourse I have never seen before. I did not know "F" concourse even existed (and maybe it doesn't), but I went there and found what appears to be a large shopping mall as well as a dozen or so gates for boarding airlines. When I got to the desk there at gate F-12, I had to ask for a seat assignment, as it did not occur when the ticket was purchased. I sat down to read my book until passengers were called to start the loading process, and waited for a bit to get on. I found my seat a few rows back from the business class (meaning I could get off quicker than the ones all the way in the far back) and stowed my suitcase. Discovered my spot between two very large black men, making me feel like the gooey middle of an Oreo.
It was a uneventful flight, though the weather man predicted thunderstorms and pounding rain for the entire eastern seaboard over the weekend. There is a tropical storm, Alfredo, that came up through the FL panhandle into AL, but nothing noticeable while I was in the sky on Sunday evening. Plenty of rain and flooding according to the news, but here only periodic showers requiring umbrellas or ponchos for those who are out in it.
We went to a parade on Monday to celebrate Memorial Day, sponsored by local American Legion posts, that was sorta' spotty. Only one marching band, lots of antique cars, numerous first response vehicles and a few girl scouts on farm trailers decorated with poster paper cut-outs of GS cookies. Flags and bunting galore and plenty of spectators to applaud and cheer as the parade chugged along.
We sat in the shade in our folding chairs, licked ice cream cones, and occasionally shouted, as parade participants passed by: "hey Keisha!" And "'way to go, Jazmin!" when total strangers puttered along in old cars.
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