The sun was just beginning to rise, and clouds loomed over the city of Los Angeles, I put on a highly rated mask for the rest of my trip. It was not comfortable.

The plane landed in LAX I got off and went through customs without a hitch. I’d rested during the long 12.5 hour flight from Sydney so I was alert, and I had 6 hours till my flight to Minneapolis. I followed another couple to Bailly’s Terminal 2 where we were to connect with the domestic flights. There I saw my mistake. It was the Friday before Memorial Day Weekend.

When I got to Terminal 2, I was directed to get to the end of a line outside:

The endless line moved amazingly fast. Before I knew it I was in terminal 2 ready to relax and wait .,,

But there was no relaxing here. It was wall to wall people. Only half vaccinated I felt like a half baked cake ready to fall. Luckily I’d been well fed by Delta on the flight from Australia. I’d preordered gluten free meals for the flight and they’d given me dinner,lunch,breakfast and snacks during my 12.5 hours. With only four passengers in my cabin and two flight attendants I was well tended.

The excited Memorial Day crowd was a stark contrast to the empty International Terminal. I would have felt safer if I’d been fully vaccinated. I sanitized my hands frequently and kept my uncomfortable mask on. For six hours I sat and waited. I kept as far as possible from anyone else.

When they asked for people to check their carry on I volunteered. Every seat on my flight to Minneaplis was filled. Finally I snuggled into my seat against the window just three hours to go in this 21 hour ordeal.

I was headed to fly over land and my beautiful home city of Minneapolis. To me there is nothing more beautiful than Minnesota in the spring. As we started to descend towards Minneapolis I caught sight of plowed fields. My heart remembered my father plowing the fields in the spring.

Then we started to descend over the city of lakes. My heart leaped at the as the plane angled its way over lake Minnetonka.

As we dipped even lower my eyes feasted on the green created by recent spring rains.

I breathed a sigh of relief. After 15 months in Australia I was home. (my original planned stay was three months).