wheels up

There she goes, off into the wild blue yonder. And just like that, I've scored a month of childlessness.

No, that was not "childishness" -- I said "childLESSness".

I plan to be very grownup about this. But it's very weird and probably won't sink in until sometime next weekend. That's when my work week will finish and I won't be dragging my tired butt home feeling the guilt of a mother who has very little left for her extremely talkative and attention-needing daughter, desiring only to kick back and talk to no one for two days.

At thirteen (next month), she won't be begging me to watch TV, play Scrabble, or observe her magnificent computer slideshow creations all that much longer. Okay, maybe the computer creations will go on for a few more years.

And she's just started her own blog, so I'm her primary audience for that too. Well, at least as long as she's away from home for the next month. So far, she's been demanding that I look over her draft before she hits the Publish button. That can't last long.

A month. Well, barely four weeks really. 28 days to have a chance to miss each other. She won't have me rearranging her hair against her will, demanding that she tidy her room, or begging her with exasperation to "Stop talking already!!!" And I won't have to deal with her chocolate addiction or hear her calling me "Stinky" and declaring, "You're so MEAN!" No doubt the reunion next month will be sweet.

Anyway, today was our first trip to the brand spanking new Ben Gurion airport, and it was strangely reminiscent of Toronto's new airport. Particularly the big ramp leading from the parking area to the terminal. Nice change! Just follow the signs to the "speed ramp to Terminal" ... okay, so the "speed ramp" wasn't working. But no matter, it wasn't one of those miles-long walks, just a quickie across the bridge.

We arrived three hours ahead of the departure time, so we weren't under any pressure. And we had been told what counter number we should check in at, so found the area quickly. We had a long line ahead of us for the pre-check-in passport-security check, but I've seen much worse. The young 20-something security employee addressed all his questions to the young lady who had been well-briefed to leave out all the wise-cracks and just tell him we packed this morning. She was on good behavior for those 3 minutes. Then we went to an ultra-short line for Unaccompanied Minors, paid fifty bucks to have a flight attendant keep an eye on her in transit, and completed the check-in procedure. Finally, we headed around the corner to the waiting hall, the "sky lounge" with wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling windows looking out on the airfield. Impressive. Tidy. Orderly. A McDonald's, a coffee-sandwich-salad bar, a juice-shake bar, and a "taste of Israel" fast-food place. And a long bank of mall-type shops with a nice selection of whatever you might need.

And smokers! Very disappointing. I saw not a single No Smoking sign, but after looking around, I did see a sign indicating that along one side was the designated (not partitioned) smoking area. Which of course several smokers ignored, continuing to pollute the air wherever they pleased. Two steps forward, one step back.

Something I've never seen in an airport before: Performers. A couple of clowns dressed as janitors goofing around with pail, mop and broom. And an astoundingly athletic dance duo performing to a wonderfully futuristic, spacey soundtrack, an incredible gymnastic ten-minute piece that had me breathless with fear of someone falling and breaking their neck. At one point, the tiny, lithe woman was balanced perpendicularly on her muscular male partner: he standing with his head forward so that there was just the curve of his neck and shoulders to balance on, she upside down, feet straight up in the air, balancing only the back curve of her neck on the back curve of his, hands straight out in the air. I wanted very badly to take a picture of this incrdible feat, but was terrified that the flash would cause them to lose it; I waited until they were out of danger, in my perception. Here's a sample:







Who ARE these people? Anybody know? There was no announcement and no indication of any kind. I'd love to see them again. The moment they finished, they donned jackets and sped off into the main check-in hall, giving nary a clue of their identity.