“There are only two emotions in a plane: boredom and terror.”
—Orson Welles
We have been taking this flight to Maui almost every year since the late 70s. In a sense it was routine. Sometimes, we didn’t get the fare or the seats we wanted, sometimes our flight was delayed, turbulent, uncomfortable, but this experience was something else all together.
We had already flown almost halfway way to the Island of the Sun, our home away from home, when the flight attendant calmly and apologetically announced there were mechanicial problems with the aircraft affecting the air condition’s compressor (it was cold), and we had to return to SFO. There was cause for concern. Then she then added that we would have to circle the airspace for 2 1/2 hours to use up some fuel because it would be unsafe to land, and lastly, that we would have to change planes, that added another level of complexity. We safely deplaned, and had to wait three hours to board another aircraft and managed to get to Maui 9:30 PM instead of 1 PM.
It reminded me of "The Royals", Prince William and Kate Middleton’s flight to Islamabad in Pakistan in mid-October on the Royal Air Force aircraft which was forced to abort landing twice and had to turn back to Lahore after thunderstorms caused severe turbulence. The crew tried to land at two airports in Islamabad but decided the storm meant it wasn’t safe to land, and it was safer to fly back to Lahore. They were forced to stay overnight and were grateful to the crew for taking care of them. So, kudos to United Airlines for a safe conclusion and for valiantly taking care of our needs in a calm, confident, reasuring way.
After a good nights sleep we awoke to a splendid morning in Paradise, the sun was out, the surf was pounding, the birds were chirping and we could see the ocean and palm trees from our bed out of our 5th floor window. We took a walk along the promenade of Kaanapali Beach, enjoyed brunch at the Kaanapali Grill and, laid by the pool reading and doing crossword puzzles. I took a gentle yoga class at 1 PM with Tawney Lee Hunt, a teacher at the Maui Ocean Club whom we have come to know over the years. No matter how indulgent or fancy the term may sound, Tawney is a strong advocate of "self-care" which is crucial for our physical, emotional, and mental well-being. She believes as we do that there is a calmness to a life lived in gratitude even under the most trying circumstances of one’s life. It’s been said that in bad times, we choose to grow stronger. In good times choose to enjoy fully, and in all times choose to be grateful. Or as Tawney likes to say, live your life and do your practice with an attitude of gratitude.
Photo: Tawney demonstrating Warrior 2 Pose on the Balancing boards (she’s an avid surfer)
Photo: World travelers, George and Cheryl Wightman. Cheryl took the yoga class and afterwards introduced me to her husband George who used to teach at Saratoga High School around the same time our son Jason was a student there. They both live in Capitola and live life to the fullest.
Photo: Joe, the young man next to me is from Queenstown in the Gold Coast of Australia. I told him about my Sicilian cousins in Fremantle, in Western Australia, whom Cecile and I and our son Jason and daughter Michelle visited in 1989.
