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Kristan Higgins

Fly the friendly skies

Updated: May 3, 2022

I love airports. O’Hare is a special favorite, there in the heartland, and that’s where I am now, sitting in a Chili’s, drinking bad coffee, about to head for Savannah via Milwaukee, where I spent a lovely, wonderful weekend with readers and writers at the Barbara Vey Reader Appreciation Weekend.


The first time I flew somewhere as an author, I didn’t know how to go through security. I was so nervous…that person who didn’t realize you couldn’t take hairspray on a carry-on unless it was travel size, who didn’t have her license ready. That was 9 years ago…I’ve been on an awful lot of flights since. This morning, the guy at security said, “Been at this rodeo a few times, have you?”


I guess I’m an experienced flyer now. I know how to pack, and I know how to read signs, and where you can actually sit down and be served a meal. Once, I went to one of those massage places between a long layover and had a chair massage. I know that Seattle has the best restaurants. I know how to get free wifi.


But the wonder of flying never leaves me. All those people, going all those places. Home, or to a wedding or funeral, or a vacation, or to a meeting or job interview. It’s the best place to watch people, which is a great hobby of mine…What does that woman decked out in Coach and Prada do for a living? That sixty-something flight attendant…wonder what her favorite place is? The people who can go through the restricted access doors…what’s back there? The couple with the baby of a different race.


And the captains. I wonder if they’re overtired or if they’ve been drinking, if they still love their jobs, if they could pull a Captain Sully if need be. I feel very safe in the air, as well as that fatalistic view of “Everyone dies someday.” I hope I’d have time to call my family. I hope I’d be calm and comforting to my seatmates. Clearly, I’ve thought about it a lot. : )


Well, it’s time for me to head off, gang! Hope that wherever you are, you’re having a wonderful day. And stay tuned to my Facebook page for pictures of beautiful Savannah, Georgia!

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