In Transit

If I didn't know better, I would think the transportation industry has some sort of conspiracy to throw my travel plans off schedule.  I left my hotel before five o'clock this morning, only to find at the airport that my flight (scheduled to depart at half past six) would be delayd by two hours. However, today's delay is far less stressful than my long and strange day waiting for the train at Christmas.  In fact, I'm rather thankful for the respite. This has been a whirlwind week and a whirlwind month, and I have had very little time to reflect on the wind and the flurry.

Last week I submitted my full dissertation to my committee.  Next week (on Ash Wednesday, in fact), my committee and I will meet for my oral defense of the dissertation. This week I traveled for an on-campus job interview for a very exciting position.

Written out, those words seem small, but each event is the culmination of months and years of work and waiting. I can hardly believe that only the oral defense remains. I am exhausted and bewildered and thrilled.  Even as I sit here in a Gulf-Coast airport, I'm not troubled by the uncertain schedule. Travel disruptions in December became an emblem for the waiting that seemed to characterize every area of my life. Today, this delay gives me time to pause, drink a cup of tea, and remember that I am headed home in more ways than one.

What are you doing on this early Friday morning?