Originally posted: August 18, 2013 at 12:24pm
Flight date August 17, 2013
FL 350 (35,000 feet)
Speed: 550 mph
Time: 4:15 PM

The
pouch in the seat in front of me has the usual assortment of in-flight
reading material: Boeing B737-800/900 safety booklet, the United
Airlines Hemisphere magazine headlining ‘Three Perfect Days –Alaska.'
The picture which graced the cover must have been taken from a
helicopter, and was that of a snow covered landscape with running elk.
Don’t they call them caribou up Canada? The United Sky Mall shopping
magazine was also in the mix. Thanks, but no thanks, I’ll get my deals
from eBay or Amazon.
It is at times like this, on
the return flight, when one is usually inundated with thoughts of a
vacation just concluded. I was no exception. At 35,000 feet with nothing
else to do the previous five weeks flashed through my mind like a fast
forwarding VHS tape gone wild. Visions of being a passenger on the
inaugural United flight to St. Lucia; the Monday and Tuesday carnival
jump up through the streets of Castries and all those pictures I took;
meeting so many friends once again; La Rose; an SJC graduating class 25th
anniversary reunion; Miss Gros Islet; my underwater mission as Agent
009 Nobbie Bond; and mangoes. All those damn blasted mangoes. I mean
seriously!
Mangoes were a part of every day. I
picked them early each day from the trees which spotted the landscape
where I stayed. Pon, Graham, Tin Kwem…..ahhhhhhhhhhh. These mangoes
kept me sane, I believe. I was spared the affliction which is commonly
known as VAT-induced-vap. It is a condition which afflicts many St.
Lucians who become more and more enraged as they pay VAT on items they
purchase throughout the day. Usually by 4 pm they’re ready to eat you
(an expression used by St. Lucians to mean that a person has become wild
enough to eat you in a rage). I was at least spared contracting that
affliction as any glass of juice did not give the feeling of swallowing
VAT at every gulp. This year’s harvest was bountiful, sweet, and VAT
free. I continue to be amazed at how many foreign fruit drinks are on
our supermarket shelves.


What’s
this? A little turbulence, a wide graceful climbing turn, and a
bathroom break. Looking back to the rear of the cabin I see a line for
the bathroom, and my two elderly visitor seat mates are asleep.They have
me boxed in. Damnit! Don’t think about it Nobbie you really don’t have
to pee; mind over matter. Well in this case it turned out to be too much
matter. To hell with it I’m waking them up.
Eventually
I made it past my slumbering friends and on my return had a
conversation with Bob who was now awake. We spoke about politics,
Mexicans, trade, the US auto industry, and crooked politicians. Bob
lives in New Jersey and was returning home after a wonderful trip to
St. Lucia. He says Bermuda will be his next vacation spot next year.
Ever heard of the Bermuda Triangle Bob? At least Bob helped pass the
remaining forty five minutes of flight time.

As we began our descent into New York airspace I captured some sunset shots. The landing was a bit hard, but we made it. And so, one chapter ends and another begins in the life of Secret Agent 009 Nobbie Bond.
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