The Zen Traveler

Our dear Brynna had her first plane ride the other day, at only six weeks! What a champ she was. We were able to forestall her growing hunger and impatience until takeoff, so that she could eat during ascent. This is a strategy that helped her ears to equalize and avoided a lot of unpleasantness. After that, she slept for the whole trip to BDL. Although we had the bulkhead row - the very last row in the plane - we had an empty seat in the row, so we could lay her flat and swaddled.

And how did her parents fare? Reasonably well, considering we were hauling about three times our usual amount of stuff. Hilary and I are seasoned travelers, like to think we travel light and efficiently, and, although we find no pleasure in flying, are well adapted to it. Due to recent airline price restructuring, we only checked a single bag. We also only had one carry-on apiece. The difference was that we also had Brynna, her carseat, and the stroller it snaps into. Taking advantage of a rare example of airline practicality and magnanimity, we kept her in the stroller all the way down the jetway and gate-checked it, which prevented us from having to carry her through the airport. Still, it also meant that we needed to perform and elaborate and unpracticed dance to get through security (shoes off, laptops out, line up the bags, pull Brynna out, carry Brynna through, break down the stroller and carseat, line up for scanning, walk through, then reverse the process on the far side).

Now we are in CT, to introduce Brynna to her adoring East Coast fanclub. We introduced her to Dickie, her great-grandfather, who likes to say they two are both greats. She took a fieldtrip to her grandmother's office, some of whom remember Hilary when she was that young. She also met our good friends Dave and Anne, who braved I-84, Friday evening rush-hour traffic around Hartford to come down from Boston for Friday dinner. Today she will meet some of her father's New England relations, and most of her mother's hometown acquaintances. She is napping now to prepare for the paparazzi.

We can only hope that the return trip will be so smooth.