An irrational fear of flying…

My parents and I are leaving Florence on Monday…that is, day after tomorrow. Destination: Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A. I have a question: why is it that natural disasters or plane crashes always take place on the eve of my departure? Always. I mean, it’s almost uncanny…

This time, it’s Hurricane Earl. I have been tracking its course…Luckily, it appears that we won’t be running into it. I can’t say I am sorry about that. No, not one bit. I have traveled in bad weather, snowstorms and whatnot, but this would have been my first experience with hurricane-force winds…eeekkk!

I am a fatalist. I believe that, well, if it’s gonna happen, it’s gonna happen. And statistics show that you are in more danger of kicking the bucket just sitting at your kitchen table doing absolutely nothing than by getting on a plane. I am well aware of all that.

Still, I don’t like to fly. I can’t help it. My heart starts racing at the slightest turbulence, thumpety thump!, let alone if the plane runs into an air pocket. Now, that is an interesting expression. In Italian, an air pocket is a “vuoto d’aria,” which literally translates to “an empty space with no air.” Well, at those altitudes there is no such thing as an airless space, of course. “Vuoti d’aria” are nothing more than strong air currents that make planes lose altitude, usually only for a few seconds. I know all this, I know all this…yet my rational brain cannot stop my irrational heart from going crazy…

As soon my feet leave the ground, you see, things…change. I feel as though I have no control over my life, which both annoys and scares me. It is similar, I suppose, to my attitude about having multiple myeloma. I have no control over what may or may not happen to me in the future. Taking curcumin and doing research and keeping updated and writing posts for my blog and keeping in touch with blog readers…well, all of this helps a lot, as does my cheerful, optimistic, ready-to-laugh disposition…but the fact remains that myeloma is an insidious type of cancer. Even though mine is currently dormant, I am well aware that one day it might raise its head, then yawn and stretch its scrawny little legs…

It might wake up. Or…it might not…

Anyway, having myeloma is a bit like getting on a plane that might, or again, might not!, have to go through hurricane-force winds. You can never be entirely sure that you will safely reach your destination…and have your feet back on the ground, like this man near Worms Head, UK (I watched him jump off a cliff, fly around for a while and then land safely on the beach…)…

Okay, enough with all this morbid talk! Uffa! Of course, everything will be fine. My parents and I will have a smooth trip and land safely in Boston on Monday night. And I will be back in Italy, back with Stefano and my kitties, on the 22nd of this month. No worries. 

I am taking a laptop with me, and, hah, IF I can manage (!) to hook it up to my parents’ Mac-friendly but perhaps not-PC-friendly (!) modem, I will be posting at least a few updates from Massachusetts. I have so many unread studies lying on my desktop, so many unfinished drafts…but I probably won’t get to them until I return. Tomorrow, though, I would like to post about one of them, at least…

I just have to see how the packing goes… 🙂

7 Comments

  1. Enjoy your visit. It seems as if the hurricane will only affect the coast and I’ve spoken to family in Boston area who say the weather is magnificent. If you ever venture south (NC) be sure to let me know.

  2. As a former live-aboard sailor, I can tell you that the Weather Channel has to encourage people to go out and buy supplies because of their advertising contracts… so consider that when you see their doom n’ gloom forecasts. My daughter was getting ready to go to Boston on Saturday (today) for a week of sailing. She e-mailed me “Should we worry?” I replied, “No, Earl will be long gone by the time your plane lands.” And I’m not just psychic (LOL) but pragmatic in looking at the weather information. I could see that the cold front marching in from the west would do the trick, and the cold water from the Atlantic would finish him off. And so it did.
    Like doing the research on natural elements like curcumin, you have become more confident about such supplements in your life. I have done the same with the weather… and I don’t believe everything I hear or listen to only one source… nor should those who have been diagnosed with MM or are giving care to those with MM. Don’t you agree?

  3. OMG – I am so glad we don’t have a kitchen table!

    I love flying – even though technically we’ve only flown to and from one destination – it involved 7 flights – as it was Oz. We had turbulence so turbulent one of the air stewardesses whoo, whooed like it was a roller coaster! ;D

  4. Thanks, everyone…and yes, Robin, I will. 🙂
    Sandy, I couldn’t agree more!!!

    Okay, the cats are fed, I have had my morning cappuccino, the house is quiet (everyone else is asleep)…this is a good time to do some research. Off I go. 🙂

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