Home, Home Again...

"And we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne"

After a wearying day of travel, we find ourselves home, again. We started off early Friday morning, driving from Stirling to the airport in Edinburgh. Got the car turned-in with no problems (I'll miss you most of all, Metallic-Black, Ford Mondeo Titanium!), not even an angry word about the ugly scratch under the left fender (stupid curbs). Lined up for check-in at the airport, checked our luggage, then one last Caffe Mocha from Costa Coffee before bidding farewell to Scotland. At this point, we began to be followed around by an American teenaged girl who spoke with a rising inflection that made every sentence sound like a question. Also, she said "for sure" alot. I thought I'd left "for sure" in 1983, but apparently it's back. Also she had a rather lustrous mustache. Not a bit of hair on her lip, but a full-on Selleck. I understand the irony of a guy who's carrying around at least fifty extra pounds and one extra chin, commenting on someone else's appearance. But seriously, this girl could have played both Smokey and the Bandit! The flight from Edinburgh was comfortable and passed quickly, I watched three in-flight movies and Melody listened to music and played games (as she is wont to do).

After the pleasant flight, we wound up in a strange land called "Newark". Endless queuing at customs, sniffer dogs, bag checks, Melody's attempt to smuggle an apple: foiled! Welcome home. We managed to get our bags re-checked for our flight to Tulsa, then settled in for a four hour layover at Newark airport. Had a delicious burger and four ridiculously priced beers, then trekked over to Terminal A, our port of departure from New Jersey. Terminal A had the feeling of a Balkan refugee camp . Hot, noisy, malodorous, and packed with a sweaty mass of humanity. The whirling drone of some far off alarm, our constant companion. Abandon all hope, ye who enter here. Our first note of foreboding was hit when we glanced out the window and saw our plane. More appropriately, I should say we glanced out the window, down to the ground below, and saw what appeared to be a VW Micro-Bus with wings. This to convey us, and many others, home to Tulsa. As our flight from Tulsa (on our outbound trip) had been made in a large, comfortable, roomy plane; we had been looking forward to the same on the return trip. Sadly, hopes dashed by the diminutive flying-machine dispatched to take us home. Well, at least it was warm inside. Which is really handy in eighty-degree temperatures, when surrounded by dozens of people in a small space. God, I miss Scotland. On the bright side, the seats were massively uncomfortable. I'm a "half-full" kind of guy. After sweating, squirming, whining, and scotch-drinking our way through the interminable flight, we arrived in Tulsa! Melody's Parents met us at the airport and whisked us away home. Then, to sleep.

I will sorely miss Scotland. It is a remarkably beautiful and picturesque country. The scenery around Loch Ness, in Glen Coe and in the country surrounding Edinburgh and Stirling, is among the most brilliant and verdant I've ever seen. The people we met there, Scottish, English, American, New Zealander...were all exceedingly friendly. The beer was good, the food was tasty, the Whisky; phenomenal! I could live in Scotland. Not very different from my way of life in the US, just different enough to be interesting. But, perhaps living amid the lush scenery, medieval architecture and rich history; one would become inured to it all, Maybe, if I lived there, I'd take it all for granted, it just being a part of my everyday. Better not to risk it. I know that if I ever visit Scotland again, I'll be just as impressed, overawed really, as I was my first time. That's the way I'd like to keep it.

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