Monday, November 24, 2008

Home Sweet Home

Here I am. I'm sitting at my desk in my apartment at the double-deuce and Spruce. Rocky is curled up on the bed, leaning against the sweater that I wore yesterday to keep warm on the trip from Newark-Liberty International Airport to 30th Street Station Philadelphia and from there back home. The Baby is on the other side of the bed, leaning up against my pillow, and she's cleaning herself diligently. I'm drinking a cup of Costa Rican (Tarrazu) coffee that I just made. So, for the moment at least, things are good.

On the flight from Tokyo to Newark, I decided to watch the movie "Philadelphia", which I've never seen; I thought it was appropriate to see since I was on my way home, and also since I can't see myself ever renting it back home. The opening scenes of the movie, as well as the opening and closing songs (i.e., "Streets of Philadelphia" by Bruce Springsteen and "Philadelphia" by Neil Young), really tugged at my heartstrings. I was so ready to be back home. While the closing credits of the film were rolling, I wrote a few lines on the flight menu:
as far as i roam
i will always come home
to my city of philly
the place that i love
It was such a warm feeling to see the illuminated skyline of Philadelphia as my Amtrak train made its way alongside I-95, then through North Philly, then across the Schuylkill River, and finally into the station at 30th Street. The train pulled in at 5:30pm; only 24 hours earlier, I was boarding my flight in Bangkok.

The flights were pretty uneventful. From Bangkok to Tokyo, it was a quick 5 hours, 30 minutes. From Tokyo to Newark, it was a steady 11 hours, 45 minutes. Both flights were faster than at the beginning of the trip; flying east is always faster because you're going with the flow of the jet stream.

Well, that's all for now. Keep an eye out for some interesting tweaks and additions to all my posts from TLC over the next day or two. Since I mentioned it, I'll conclude this post with a video for your viewing and listening pleasure:



By the way, I'll be sure to post some reflections of my TLC trip very soon, the kind of stuff that never fit into my narratives.

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