DAY 5 –The day that never came to pass
Date: Wednesday August 13 2008
Location: Crossing the Equator and International Date Line
If you travel far enough, eventually you will cross one of Earth’s invisible gradients, the International Date Line. Traveling from west to east, the experience is psychologically confusing but biologically easy to deal with. We left on Tuesday night, had dinner, slept, woke up, had breakfast and landed in New Zealand. Except instead of Wednesday, this new day was called Thursday.
Day in, day out we live our lives – except on Wednesday, August 13, there was no living to be had. It simply didn’t exist.
We flew Air New Zealand, a great airline. Even in economy, drinks, including wine, are free. And as the official airline of New Zealand, all products, down to the cheeses, were New Zealand made. The pride emanated from every crew member and even the inflight magazine. It was a comfortable way to leave the U.S.A. behind. Looking at the vanishing California coastline shortly after takeoff, I wondered who I’d be when I returned. What would I bring back to the country of my birth? We are among the luckiest citizens on the planet to have the freedom to speak what we want, travel where we want and have whatever faith we choose. I would not be pushing the envelope too much on this trip as I was visiting English-speaking countries that can trace their heritage, in many ways, to our own – a vibrant immigrant colony of people who chose to make a new home for themselves through toil and innovation. Still, as I crossed the equator, Jaime helped me with a tradition that seafaring people had done for a long time: my head was dunked with water, a symbolic rite of passage, as all I knew of my world was north of my current location, and the unknown lay in front of me.
October 22nd, 2008 at 3:50 pm
Skipping Ben’s birthday….he still turned 11….even though you missed it.
July 2nd, 2010 at 4:43 am
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