thank you notes 10/1

i'm thankful to be writing these notes from the gate of our flight to atlanta, where we'll get on a flight to fort lauderdale and will then get picked up my parents for the drive to miami beach. i'm thankful that my mom's job interview in sarasota yesterday went well, so it may be the last time i ever make this particular trip.i'm thankful for free airport wifi, especially like this one that just works instantly without some annoying ad-filled check in thing. i'm thankful that i like airports, even though i know a lot of people hate them. i'm thankful to have a longish layover in atlanta, since i would rather have a longish layover than have to panic and rush. i'm thankful that because our first flight is full, they took volunteers to gate check roller bags and i'm thankful to have gate checked ours, because that means that i get to avoid schlepping it onto the plane and around during our layover (i'm thankful to have considered paying in advance to check it, but then being cheap, and still getting to check it anyway). i'm thankful to feel that's worth having to wait a few minutes longer after our flight. i'm thankful for the dance of the motorized baggage carousel. i'm thankful that d and i were able to pack all our stuff in our backpacks and one roller bag, because we only have one carry-on-sized roller bag and the other carry-on-sized bag we have doesn't have wheels and is a pain in the ass (and arms) to carry around. i'm thankful on long layovers to and take long walks around the terminals—i'm thankful to stroll through enormous indoor spaces and to imagine that if malls exist in some form when i'm old i will be one of those old people waiting to walk through them in the morning. i'm thankful that though i live far away from my parents, i don't have to take a very long car trip to get to them, which i know would mean that i visited them even less than i do. i'm thankful for music for airports. i'm thankful for the feeling of taking off into the air, which is still magical to me. i'm thankful for the methodically polite cadence of loudspeaker announcements from flight attendants. i'm thankful that they are about to call for us to get on the plane and go somewhere else.