Where She Is

Today we flew home to Texas from our former home, Rhode Island. Baby amused herself as well as possible in the space available to her in the plane. We were fortunate to be in the front row, so that not only was there no one to disturb ahead of us but we had an inch or two of extra space to keep our munchkin from going totally bananas. I can remember how long a six-hour flight seemed when I was three years old. I presume that today's four-hour flight seemed that long, and longer, to baby. She played with non-staining pens, climbed on mommy like she was a jungle gym, emptied items from her parents' backpack and put some of them back again, and looked out the window from dad's lap for well over three seconds. When we woke her for the drive to the airport at 4 a.m. she was unsually exuberant, and that is how she seems tonight. Young as she is, she knows what going home is. And so do I: it's where she is.