25 December 2007

A Christmas morning

I just came back from my final sight for this Bay Area visit - San Francisco International Airport, home of an outstanding aviation museum and also Sarah's home domicile during her United Airlines days.

The aviation museum was closed today, for Christmas. However, I still had a chance to look at aviation toys, from aviation's golden age - 1910 to 1941. Many of the foreground toys depict Charles Lindbergh's plane, Spirit of St. Louis. I wondered: what kinds of aviation toys will little boy Sanford have, given his huge interest in the subject?

It may be Christmas, but the United international flights are chugging along as busily as ever. The front two planes, in the older paint scheme, are Sarah's favorites - the 777. Also visible are a Mexico-bound Ted A320, as well as a 747, another model Sarah will work often. An opportunity for me to think about my own international trips by air, most of which took place aboard United planes - just like these.

I wonder if I need to write a holiday assignment for Sarah, putting her far away from home during the holiday season, and even enduring delays and irate passengers. Will she be relieved, or disappointed, to be in a country where Christmas is just another ordinary workday? How will she feel about being in a place like Japan, where Christianity is only a minor influence, but Christmas is huge?

These are the thoughts I will ponder, as I start packing up now, and start my drive back to Los Angeles in a few moments. It was a wonderful stay here in the Bay Area, and I will miss being here.

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