I am in Phoenix for the next two days. I flew out tonight and as soon as I settled myself into my seat, buckled up and pulled out my knitting, I started praying the standard passenger prayer...maybe the seat to the left of me might remain vacant. It was not to be. A Birkie-clad guy in his early 20s scooched in beside me two minutes before boarding ended. Drat.

Not five seconds after his buns began warming his seat, "Hey, there...whatcha makin'?"

Jeez. Let me first lay out my general friendly disposition on airplanes:

-Fact #1: I have traveled to 14 countries...some multiple times. If you tell me a story, I've probably already been subjected to it before by that other guy on the way to Chile.
-Fact #2: I have a two-year old. I need "me time".
-Fact #3: I have been knitting this damn blanket for 6 months and would like to finish it.
-Fact #4: I once carried a Bible onto an airplane so people wouldn't talk to me.

Unfortunately, despite all of the above, I have SUCKER invisibly tattooed on my forehead and before I know it, I have a new PLANE FRIEND.

Plane Friend (plAn-frend), n: A person who will tell you their whole life story, including any childhood diseases between take-off and landing, though you never find out their name.

This guy was really nice, thankfully. He was a med student who talked to me about new frontiers in medicine (of which I know enough to keep up) and I realized that sometimes plane friends aren't a bad thing (unlike the plane friend I made en route to Honduras who began a narrative about the plane graveyard down below while we positioned for landing. Apparently, [according to him], only two pilots are licensed in the Western Hemisphere to land the plane I was on in Tegucigalpa due to the fact that it has to wedge its wings between two mountains to make the landing strip. Thanks, bad - but super-informative - plane friend!)

I am staying here for the next two nights. It's PRETTY. It has great Frank Lloyd Wright architecture, a warm Arizona breeze, and cute little Adirondack chairs for tots. There was a lovely couple approximately my grandparents' age - who were cuddled up in front of a firepit on Adirondacks near my hotel room tonight.

I had dinner and wine with two friends and now I'm going to stretch out, relax and enjoy the breeze coming through my open patio door.