From The Stories of Mary Gordon, pg. 42:  “She reached into the tapestry bag at her feet and shyly handed Lorna a box wrapped in violet paper with a teal ribbon. “This is your survival kit for the airplane,” she said. Lorna opened the box; there was an inflatable neck pillow, a set of earplugs, a lavendar sachet that you wear over your eyes like a mask-sized pillow — it was supposed to induce a gentle sleep. There were Victorian tins of pastilles: one black currant, one lemon, with pictures of little girls holding parasols.”

Nothing quite as fancy for us, but we’ve got our stockpile of books (me: Black Swan Green, The Accidental, and The Kite Runner; Shawn: The Adventures of Augie March), our notebooks and pens, a couple of pashminas (I really don’t like airplane blankets, they feel so unclean!), and our waterproof Muji travel bag with a pair of toothbrushes, contact lens cases, and a ziploc bag (yes, we obediently follow airplane safety procedures) for little bottles of lotion. Now all we need are a few not-too-cheesey movies and somewhat edible food.

And on that note, we’re off ~ across the Pacific we go!

May 3rd, 2007