Like a calf being prepped for the return of the prodigal son’s dinner, I’m fattened up by the last few days. The entree food on KLM isn’t particularly good, but the desserts are pretty alright – a cheesecake side dish and… tha-tha-tha-that’s not all, folks! the complimentary caramel waffle cookies were over indulged by this porkier Kevin.
The rising sun over my connecting flight out of Amsterdam; the jet bridge advert says “I’m off to Tokyo!” Ironically not on this leg but soon that IS happening… so in a sense what they’re advertising is true…from a certain point of view.
It’s been a LONG 24 hours to get back from Oman. I haven’t slept much either. My eyes have been too tired to read, my ears hurt too much after having headphones jammed in do movies were out. I mainly existed in a waking fit of hazy delirium. But I’m finally through to US soil.
When I left, Barack Obama was president. As I return, Donald Trump occupies the White House. He’s adopted an apparent siege mentality, instituting a veritable executive orders martial law that was horrifying to hear about from afar and now I get to experience in country.
One of his most recent acts was slamming the door on refugees and immigration, declaring it would seem a ban on Muslims. I’ve seen footage of peaceful demonstrations at airports across the US and as I arrived at Tom Bradley International in Los Angeles, I got the opportunity to see it firsthand.
My goal is to get out for a 13 mile run. I’m tired and spaced so will take it slow on the pacing in order to avoid tripping, falling, and reopening old wounds or creating new ones.
Sadly not even that distance will make much of a dent in the battle of the bulge but better some miles than no miles.
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I don’t know if it’s the jet lag, or the lack of sleep crossing the time zones on the plane, or caution running on empty and worrying about the sidewalks I’ve tripped over in the past… I don’t know if it’s the weight of poor food choices or the weight of time itself on these ever aging old bones… but it was a S-L-O-W pace out there today.
Yeesh… and as I said those miles going wee wee wee all the way home don’t even come close to putting a dent in the oversnacking poor dietary scarfdown of this little piggy. Sigh. Back to reality, I suppose. It’s a necessary layover before the next great adventure.
Run Kevin Run… where I stop nobody knows.