eleven

11/11/11 was a significant day because the number eleven was the month, day and year. Many felt that this was the day to do something meaningful since this triplet would not appear on the calendar again for centuries. I had the distinction of experiencing 11/11/11 as The Extended Version. Only through the magic of travel could I start the day looking at the shimmering reflection of the full moon on the Mediterranean, add six more hours as I attempted to doze through an 11, yes an 11 hour flight and end it looking at that same full moon as it shimmered on the Potomac. 

When we boarded the bus at 5:30AM Sorrento time, I was already exhausted but had to get my last look at whatever incredible view I could steal before it would be just a vacation memory in mind and photographs. I was not disappointed as I looked over the cliffs into the moonlit water below before the sand person forced my weary eyes to close. When I woke the moon had become a huge beautifully translucent orb in front of the bus, the enormous glow of the sun was behind as I said arrivederci to the Amalfi Coast and buon giorno to Rome, and all its traffic, where my flight awaited.

Door to door, the trip back to the States was four hours short of 24; I couldn’t wait to pick up my bag and get home to my own bed (no matter how much I wished that I could have extended my stay in that gorgeous part of Italy, I could NOT wait to crawl under my own covers and snuggle down). But after what had been an almost uneventful day of travel, I could NOT believe that my bag had failed to meet me in DC (one of the reasons I never take connecting flights, especially if customs is involved). Every bit of exhaustion fell away from my bones -- this had never happened to me ever! I wanted to get pissed, as if that would have made the suitcase suddenly materialize. Instead, I gritted my tired teeth, spoke to someone in the baggage office and dragged my once again deliriously tired self into the night air to catch a cab. Seeing the moon made me remember to take this time to absorb the final minutes of an incredible journey that was about to come to an end exactly where it started...home. Anger just wasn’t an option.

I spent Saturday waiting for my luggage to be delivered and in the between downloaded and categorized 1,861 moments from my trip. Thankfully, I had been editing constantly while shooting or it would have been at least 300 more. I was careful not to take a nap in an effort to get back into a US sleep pattern and could not believe I slipped into doze mode around 7:11PM (I woke because my bag knocked at the door 11 minutes later, seriously). So here I am wide awake at 1:11AM Washington, DC time, my body thinking it’s 7:11AM Sorrento, Italy time deciding what to write about…

keep your peepers open!®

ps…and here’s hoping mine will shut again shortly!

pps…my niece celebrated her birthday on 11/11/11…through the magic of texting, I did not miss it!