First Flight

Happy March Break to those on holiday right now! I'm writing this blog post at my sister's house in Calgary. My sister moved out west about a decade ago and has been keen to have some familiar faces from Toronto come visit. I popped by in 2010 while I was in town for the Treasure Mountain Canada library symposium, but hadn't been around since then, because in my opinion Calgary was too expensive, too far, and too cold.  This time, we found decent airline sales that coincided with my spring vacation. packed extra layers for Calgary's unpredictable weather, and took the plunge. What makes this trip extra special is that my son came with me and it is his first time travelling on an airplane.

Peter had some mixed feelings about flying. Part of his emotions may have to do with watching the famous Twilight Zone episode, "Nightmare at 20, 000 Feet" - his logical mind knew there'd be no gremlins interfering with the equipment, but when we are faced with new, unfamiliar challenges, our logical thoughts aren't always the primary ones.

Peter embodied the old Nike slogan - "Just Do It". He claims that he didn't have a strategy to make the first flight less stressful but I did notice a few things we did to make it less anxiety-provoking. He brought some manga to read to keep him occupied. He and I chatted a bit and watched the movie "Coco" together on the in-flight entertainment system. He was so engrossed that he didn't even realize that we had some turbulence.

I couldn't help being a bit of a proud mother, taking photos of my very patient son as he sat in his seat and whispering to the flight attendants that this was his first flight. They offered to introduce him to the pilot after the journey, but we had some delays with take-off, so it was after midnight when we landed and we were too tired to take them up on their invitation.

We don't have a long time to spend exploring "Cow Town" and the main purpose of our visit is to spend time with my sister and her significant other. Peter continues to embrace new experiences and actually went ATVing on a frozen Albertan lake. My son inspired me to try new things as well; my adventures weren't as hair-raising - I tried some fancy new tea and arancini at an Italian restaurant in Kensington for lunch. Our other plans include seeing Banff and the Royal Tyrrell Dinosaur Museum in Drumheller.

If I had to determine what the "big idea" was for this blog post (hey, it's hard turning off your "teacher brain" for a week!), I'd say that it's important to try new things even when they scare you, and make a point of spending time with people you care about. We all don't have the financial freedom or room in our schedules to fly across the country, so in your own ways, in your own neighbourhoods, try something new and reconnect.