Musician's Widow

I flew from Nashville to Austin today; its tax season again. Time for my yearly period of living in Texas more than Tennessee for awhile.

For the first time, I was on a wi-fi available flight. And ohhh how it mocked me. Only $5 to sign on, I clicked that connect link several times. Every time, backing out before making the commitment. I decided to just be happy with being able to watch my flight’s progress on the “welcome screen.”

It wasn’t the money that bothered me. It was the fact that I didn’t want to share my debit card information over an unsecured wi-fi connection. Call me paranoid, but I just didn’t want to do it. So while I stared at my Facebook, blog, Flickr, Pinterest, email, etc. links… mocking me… inviting me to come out and play… I came up with a whole new travel tip.

One of those refillable credit cards. If only I had a card that had a limited amount of funds available to use. I’d have not hesitated to log on and be Facebook chatting with friends from 38,000 ft. Well, if I used Facebook chat. But that’s a whole different blog post for a whole different day. The point is, if anyone snagged that number and “wiped me out,” they wouldn’t get far. A fact that I REALLY like.

So, a new goal is to obtain such a card so that if by some chance my next flight is wi-fi available, I can play online the course of the trip. Use that, too, for purchasing drinks, should I want one. A handy little travel idea that I plan to implement as soon as possible.

I almost made it through NaBloPoMo without missing a day. Almost. I missed yesterday. However, I have a good excuse.

Sunday night, my husband and I hit the road from Texas to Tennessee. I had intended to write about our trip on Monday, since it was 13.5 hours long and surely it would make for a semi-interesting post. We drove from 8:30 pm to 10 am the next morning, successfully running behind the mad Thanksgiving day traffic for the last 12 hours of the drive.

After that many hours on the road, though, my muse was sleeping. Writing just wasn’t going to happen. So I figured I would get some sleep, then write when I got up.

Instead, I slept a lot longer than I meant to, and I hit the floor running. We had invited friends over for the evening, and our house was void of any food other than a couple cans of soup. So it was shower, grocery store, home, and cook.

It was a great choice to have friends over, though. We had SO  much fun just eating frozen pizza and decorating little liquor bottles into Christmas ornaments. It wasn’t until they headed home that I realized I’d missed posting the entire day.

Oh well, I decided. It was okay to miss a day writing about life just to live it for awhile.

I’m sitting on a flight to Austin, TX again. My head leans against the wall of this Southwest Airline plane, and LeeAnn Womack croons to me about Solitary Thinkin’. (FYI – I’m in the music video for this song.)

You’re probably wondering what the title of this post means. I’m getting to it.

Ah… Heidi Newfield now. A dear friend. “Cry Cry (Til the Sun Shines)” I turn it up to hear the B3 sing to me. I smile.

No one around me can hear it. Similarly, if someone spoke to me now, I’d hear nothing. I’m wearing my husband’s back-up pair of E5s.

E-what you might ask. I know I was lost the first time I heard of them. Think super-duper-expensive and high-tech pair of ear buds. Like the ones that come with your iPod.

If you’ve been to a concert, or perhaps have watched live music on tv, you’ve probably seen the musicians and artist wearing headphone/ear buds. They’re called in-ear monitors. They let the musicians hear themselves. Some artists use floor monitors (basically speakers facing them) to hear instead, but a vast majority today use In-ears.

Random side story, I was at a concert when the guy beside me very seriously told me, “They wear those so someone can tell them the words to the songs.” I just nodded and acted like it was brilliant he figured that out, all the while going in my head,”You wouldn’t believe the truth even if I showed you my lammie (backstage pass) to prove I know the REAL story.”

I still remember the first time my husband let me wear his In-ears for awhile. It was long before we even started dating; he stuck them in my ears to hear what he was hearing. I was amazed. The quality was impeccable and I am sure my jaw dropped when he said they cost him $400 new.

He’s used these In-ears for years, but as all things have want to do, they started to just wear out. They have ceased to be the superior quality he needs and expects on stage, and he’s gotten a new pair. (Thankfully this time NOT paying $400.) His old faithful pair are his “just in case” back-ups.

They’ve made many miles with him. Every state in the US. They’ve been to Canada, Turkey, Iceland, Switzerland, Qatar, Japan, South Korea and more.

Last night, as I packed for my trip, I found my iPod ear buds were MIA. I tore through multiple bags to no avail. Dug in jacket pockets. I found $5 but no ear buds. I was facing a 2 hour flight without music.

I plopped on the couch with a pout.

My husband offered me his old E5s.

“No self-respecting wife of a musician should have sub-par ear buds anyway,” he said.

I was giddy!!! This morning he dug into his work-box and carefully packed the old E5s and tucked them in my purse. He has no idea that that gesture meant more to me than if he’d stuck a note in there that said, “I love you.”

So as I carefully put them in my ears and cranked up the iPod, I felt like he was wrapping me up in a big bear hug. I was no longer traveling alone.

Now Exile is singing “Gimme Just One More Chance” and my toes are tapping happily, sipping a cup of tea from Starbucks. Ready, now, to embark on the weeks adventure: my cousin’s wedding…

I set foot on a plane for the first time when I was 23 years old. Nervous, I listened intently to all the safety procedures. I wanted to know what to do should my plane crash… because, after all, that was guaranteed, right? It was in the fine print along with what it cost to change your tickets and the official airline peanut disclosure (the one notifying you the peanuts contained peanuts.)  Your first flight will crash.

Yeah… no. Didn’t happen (obviously) and in the years since I’ve become that passenger that sits down and opens a book. I might give a cursory glance at the flight attendants as they wave their arms and put the yellow life vest on… but I’ve heard it enough that I can practically say it with them.

I sometimes glance around me to see if I can see any first-timers listening to every word. I remember one flight where, during boarding, a mother ran ahead to take a picture of her daughter taking her first steps on a plane. It was half annoying, half amusing, half what-the-he….

Yes, three halves. Shut up.

The girl was a champ. Her first flight didn’t crash either.

So as I write this, once again I am somewhere between Tennessee and Texas. And as I gaze down at the clouds below us, I can’t help but think to myself… everyone should do this atleast once. Now, granted, if you battle claustrophobia, you might be the exception to my broad sweeping statement. But otherwise… you should do it. Yes, even you, Mr. Afraid-of-heights. That’s what aisle seats are for. Pbththth

But flying is an experience. If you dare and take an window seat, it makes you realize how small you really are in the grand scheme of this earth. As cars and trucks become like ants and the ground a huge quilt of fields, golf courses, houses and baseball diamonds, your own existence is realized as being one little piece of the world’s puzzle.

You encounter such a wide range of people when flying. The businessman, focused on the next big deal. The lover with a dreamy and excited look as they can’t wait to see their special someone (or with tears as they leave them). The family on vacation. The mother with a baby, hoping to not be THAT passenger that gives the entire cabin a headache. The Redneck. The socialite. The loudmouth. The child flying alone after a trip to see grandma (or a parent).

Flying gives you time to quiet your mind. Flying gives you time to read. Flying let’s you befriend a stranger (if you are so inclined.) Flying gives you… you time!

See, flying isn’t just about getting from point A to point B. It’s about the experience. Oh, sure, I’ve had bad experiences… a 7 hour delay (when I could have driven the trip in 3 hours). Terrible seat-mates. Rough landings. The time a woman REFUSED to trade seats so my husband and I could sit together on a 4 hour flight. A cabin full of junior high kids on a trip. Luggage concerns. Etc.

But on a whole, I take the good and shrug off the bad. I enjoy flying. A lot. I wish everyone else did, too, and I urge those non-flyers to try it sometime.

BTW — there isn’t really anything in any fine print about crashing. So stop looking for it and panicking. Sheesh!!

Today I write somewhere above East Texas… or perhaps Louisiana. I really don’t know. I don’t really care either.

The sun is setting outside my window. Row 6. Seat A. Flight 1264 on Southwest Airlines out of Houston Hobby. Destination: Nashville, TN.

I am snaking on Honey Roasted peanuts. Sipping a small cup of Coca Cola.

This is my second flight of the day. My first flight has from Austin, Tx to Houston. I had a Ginger Ale on that flight. I guzzled it. As you can guess, that was one of this up, then right back down flights. 50 minutes gate to gate. So maybe 40 minutes in the air. Maybe. I heard a whopping 2 songs on my iPod before it was time to shut ‘er off.

Ah iPod. I don’t think I’ve used it since I last flew April ’10.

Weird to not have flown in so long. I make the trip from Music City USA to the Live Music Capitol of the World regularly. Home to home. (Austin is not home, but its the closest airport to my parents.) I usually fly direct, but it didn’t work his time… hence the plane change. Not a big deal. Still shorter than the 13 hour drive we often make to get to the same destination!

Anyway, back to the iPod. Got sidetracked there. The iPod was deaaaaaaad when I pulled it out. Took forever to charge last night. I switched some music around. Took some stuff off. Put on some new goodies.

Thankful for the iPod on my last flight, short as it was. Two rows behind me was a very brash, loud man. He found himself funny. I got tired of all the MFs and stories of being “gangsta” and “titty glitter”. I’m not easily offended… at all… but this guy was grating on my last nerve. Give me a crying baby over him any flight!!

Ah the people you encounter while traveling. I finally saw jeggings in real life. They’re… not awful, but they also will never be on my wish list.

I, however, do love Southwest airlines comfy seats with charging stations at gates. Brilliant, SWA. Just one more reason I adore them.

Wow. Blogging while flying makes time… well… fly. I land in half an hour. Time to close. Date night once I land. Flying Saucer… here we come!!