2000 August 9 Wednesday

"Are you British?" she inquires.

"No, I am French," I reply, although I am actually of British ancestry.

"No, I am American," I say.

"You are different from the other people here," comments the Kuwaiti woman on her first trip to New York. We talk on the subway to JFK.

Different? I am the only white guy in the subway car.

"Where did you study?" she asks me.

"Brigham Young University."

She says she wants her son to go there.

To graduate again. Is it a reason to return or an excuse to take two Summer Fridays and see my long lost sisters? I see neither Whitney nor Jaecie in seven months.

Four days will fly. This hawk is in the air.

Airplanes make me emotional. They put me in past places. The July afternoon of my first solo to Los Angeles to experience the stars on the set of North. The November evening I follow the sun to Los Angeles and end up in Manila to be a Mormon missionary in the Philippines.

Elevate the tray table.

It's time to fall from the sky after 4 hours and 17 minutes on this flight.

Local time in Salt Lake: 8:44 PM