…listen
…about the music

Off to America.

This will be my exact view in six hours, as I embark once again for meetings in New York on another early morning journey to SeaTac International Airport. As you, my devoted (or soon to be once you’ve perused this nifty site) kelphisto blogerati know from my many airborne photos of this archipelago, I often fly off the island, rather than ferry. In fact, in my less than two years living in this paradise, I’ve logged so much music-related travel that my flapping abilities have earned me a whopping four, count’ em four free flights on the puddle jumper. I am a frequent and happy flier who’s grown accustomed to flinging herself through the air in something about as sturdy as a porta potty (though smells considerably better).

But as winter approaches, modes of transport shift and I choose to book a van that takes me and a handful of other bleary-eyed travelers on the 6am combo boat-and-drive down to the tarmac. The surf ‘n turf special, as I like to call it. The potential for high winds or dense fog make an on-time departure and a stress-free morning a little less of a sure thing, and when you’re trying to get somewhere, you really need to get to that somewhere when you need to and not some other time. Coordination of flights is tricky and modern travel being what it is (and largely what it isn’t), missing a connection can wipe out the whole day or evening. So the sure thing is the ferry, except for the rare day when neither a plane nor a boat of any size can make it out. We had a day like that last year and it was the only time I truly felt the impact of the remoteness I’ve chosen as home. I loved it.

Returning is another matter, and unless the weather is inclement, I fly back to the island, since my appearance at home is not especially time sensitive. And, I’ll get my fix of aerial photography. Perhaps I’ll have some new shots to offer you on Sunday. I take requests!

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