Flying to Ottawa

... an early morning flight to Ottawa ...

I love flying.

The hardest part is finding the new way to the Calgary Airport.

Now that shouldn’t be hard if a person could just remember to go up Deerfoot Trail, turn on Airport Road and then follow the signs.

 What makes it possible to work at learning the new way, is that now the old route up Barlow Trail has turned into so many detours (through what are almost cow trails) that 45 minutes can be added to the drive to the airport.

... lakes and land along the way ...

My computer driven and randomly chosen seat, placed me by a man who helped me put my carry-on suitcase up in the overhead bin. Then he sat quietly sat on the isle seat. I sat at the window.

He read the Financial Post. I read the Globe and Mail.

We shared, using the empty seat between us to place our newspapers on when we were finished with them. Half way through a quiet trip he turned and said, “You worked at the University of Calgary for many years, didn’t you.”

“Yes,” I said.

“I am Don Barrie, a professor in the Political Science Department. My wife and I have different views on whether the new electronic books are good for us or not. I rarely read the Financial Post, but today I read it and there is an interesting opinion piece in it about Kindles.”

... snow on the land ,... and ice on the water ... for three thousand miles ...

With that he turned to me and placed the folded opinion-editorial page in my hand.

I read it.

I then read the rest of the newspaper (the Post, since he had put it down on the chair between us and I had finished the Globe).

Weird to me how randomly picked seats on a plane can put people together who have worked in the same sphere, but never really met.

... water installation in the airport ...

The article pressed in my hand almost persuaded me to buy an IPad or some other electronic reading device.

Later in discussion with Mary about whether they are taking over the world of reading, she reminded me that she can’t bookmark and underline in her reader, yet (though the facility to do so is available in some) and that the books are sort of cheaper, but not cheap.

And, she said, there are still tonnes of books one cannot get for a reader.

So I shall wait a while longer before buying and just hope that on long flights, others will keep pressing interesting columns in my hands when I meet them.

Arta