Beginning a Journey to Denmark

Stubbed my toe at four in the morning.  Who would think the huge piece of shipwreck-wood I have on my apartment floor, would NOT yield to my baby toe!  OUCH!  

I was out early on the sidewalk, waiting for the taxi I had requested on-line, the day before.  Noon, that was the scheduled time.  I had one large suitcase, a small one and my backpack.  All my possessions.  At least all I deemed necessary to have for my month-long, Denmark adventure.  

The warm sun was shining and Victor, one of the maintenance crew, asked how I was doing.  I said, “Well….I just heard the church bells chime the noon hour, usually the taxi is early.”  

He said, “Oh, don’t worry, they’ll be here.”  He said he was meeting his wife for lunch and had a huge, loving smile on his face, like a teenage boy on his first date.  As he pulled away I thought, “He’s right, just relax.”  So I faced the sun, closed my eyes and relaxed.

The taxi was to take me to the AirRide shuttle that leaves from downtown Ann Arbor to Detroit Metro Airport.   I had to meet that bus at 12:30.  When it got to 12:15 I decided I had to call the taxi.  “Oh, we don’t have you for today, oh, I see it, sorry we missed it, I’ll get someone out to you right away.”  The dispatcher apologized and I waited again.

“What does ’Right away’ mean,”  I thought.  I started to get a bit nervous.  Not a person in sight.  No one answering at the apartment office.  (I left a “Help” message, but it was the lunch hour, not a chance someone was around).  

I felt like I was in small boat- out on the calm water- the warm sun shining on me-and no oars to row back to shore.  I started pacing.

Finally I saw the cab coming up the hill.  We had six minutes to get to the bus shuttle.  I told the young man how tight the schedule was to get there.  I thought, “Please, please don’t let there be a train that stops us before we get to Fifth Street!” 

I spotted the AirRide when we were going up William and the young man said, “I’ll just go around the block so I can get you on the one-way street.”  

I said, “NO!  Just drop me off right in front of the bus and I’ll cross the street with my luggage.”  He didn’t argue.  It was already 12:30 and the bus was already loaded.  I was the last one to board.  

Twenty times or more I told myself to relax.  I consciously tried to visualize the worse-case scenario (miss the shuttle and get a cab to the airport for about $75) and the best-case (I make it to the bus)  None of this was worth tensing up about.  I had a 24 hour trip ahead and needed to be focused.   A stubbed toe and a late taxi weren’t going to rob me of  this wonderful adventure!  No way!  

When the plane landed in Frankfort, after a pleasant flight, most of the passengers clapped for the captain.  A little girl (about 4 years old) started giggling.  She said to her mom, “They’re apologizing to the ground because we hurt it.”  Ahhhhh, the mind of a child.  So wonderful, so unaffected by norms.  Her mom didn’t correct her either.  I was glad she didn’t.  

I leaned closer so I could talk to her.  “I bet the worms under the cement are yelling up, “HEY, what’s all the noise up there!”  We both giggled and began to get our things so we could get off the plane.  “I’m going to Egypt,”  the little girl told me with a beautiful smile.  

“Have fun,” I told her. 

Three days later I'm sitting in the sun, posting this.  I can see the Baltic Sea from the large windows of my friends Gesche and Gerhard's.  

No SIMS card for my phone, no card for my camera.  The pictures will have to wait.  Now we walk in the forest for an hour and finish at the beach before we return to their house.