travel preparations and some writing stuff

[edenfalling]

I am basically packed -- aside from some stuff I can't pack either because I need to take it with me to work tomorrow (my wallet, etc.) or because I don't have it yet (gum, my boarding passes), everything is either in my suitcase or my backpack, and I have a reasonable amount of space left over for panicked last-minute "oh-god-how-could-I-forget" items. There shouldn't be any of those -- I made an extremely thorough list before I started pulling anything together! -- but something always seems to get left off.

Tomorrow I have to run a few errands, such as putting a hold on my mail, but I think I will be able to go to bed early with an easy mind and hopefully get some minimal amount of sleep before getting up around 4:15am in order to be ready for a 5:00am taxi pickup for a flight that leaves at 6:00am. (This is really more time than necessary, given that it's a ten minute drive to the airport and Ithaca is so dinky it doesn't even have actual gates -- just numbered doors leading out to the runway where you board the plain via foldout staircase -- but I figure better safe than sorry.)

I am sorry I haven't been able to post the next section of "Trollstuck." I got stuck for a few days because the chatlog bogged down and died on me. I think I have figured out the problem -- I was trying to force Jothan (and secondarily Davven) into saying and doing things instead of just letting the boys talk and waiting for their conversation to meander around to touch the handful of relevant points I want to make. But it is too hot to write, and will be even hotter tomorrow, so I am declaring a writing moratorium at least until I reach the island, where the weather is forecast to be much more amenable.

I must remember to do some small ritual to placate the travel gods tomorrow night. The highway deities (Constructa and Constricta) will not have much bearing on this particular trip, but Meteora -- the goddess of weather and airplanes -- can definitely make life miserable if she's so inclined. Wayland, the god of rest areas, is also the god of airports, so I should nod respectfully in his metaphorical direction as well.

(For the record, no, I don't believe in my travel gods. But they are a useful way to conceptualize travel irritations and worries, and the illusion of doing something useful to smooth one's path is often quite effective at soothing one's mind, whether it produces any other effect or not. *grin*)

Comments

[edenfalling]

"Light candles while offering praise and a formally worded request" sort of thing. If I am feeling especially fancy (or twitchy), I go all out and use my 3-prong wrought iron candelabra. Otherwise it's a tealight in a cup. *wry* Usually I leave the candles lit until they burn out of their own accord, but tonight I may have to skimp on that front, because it is just Too Hot.