“Christmas Eve will find you,
Where the lovelight gleams.
I’ll be home for Christmas,
If only in my dreams.”
~ Bing Crosby
Remember how I said I would try not to romanticize things so often? Well, for today (and probably the next few days), I will not be holding to that effort (not that I was trying that hard before, clearly).
I’m currently sitting in the Geneva airport, waiting for my connecting flight to Belfast, and I’m surrounded by the smell of coffee and pastries. Around the corner is a shopping mall comprised of mostly Swiss watches (I know) and chocolate (I KNOW) and champagne bottles (I’m pretty convinced it’s all just an illusion).
My flight from Barcelona left at 6:30a this morning, so I boarded the metro at around 3a (thank goodness for the metro running 24 hours from Saturday-Sunday) and got to the airport around 4:30a. Maybe it’s just my love for airports, but I never usually mind getting to the airport absurdly early and just writing, reading, and people-watching. I don’t mind the feeling of being suspended from place to place (although Tom Hanks might disagree); I like the feeling of being in transit. For now, at least.
The flight to Geneva was pretty much empty (I think there were only 15 of us on the flight, which given how much stress and grief the EasyJet employee gave us about measuring our bags to MAKE SURE they fit the requirements, one would have thought we were boarding an exclusive sold out flight on a plane with only standing room), and I snoozed for an hour or so before waking up to a streaked sunrise creeping through the plane windows across from me. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I stole over to the empty row across from me, camera in hand.
Below spread the most incredible range of snow-capped mountains, craggy peaks with swirled snow clouds beneath, like a carpet of down feathers. Little mountain towns were nestled among the peaks, their constellations of lights shining through the cloud cover. It was one of those sights, the first sun rays casting pink and golden light onto the snowy mountain faces, the range of peaks stretching far and wide into the distance, the calmness of the night sky giving way with languor to the first haze of orange light – that makes you forget to breathe. And suddenly the Billy Collins quote came rushing to mind,
“There are so many ways to express that mood of royal goodwill,
When the gift of sight is enough cause for jubilation.”
There are many sights in the world that I have been so lucky to cherish (the evening sun hitting the Barcelona cathedral, flying over the CO mountain range, the faces of the people I love, steam rising from a cup of morning coffee in the kitchen, the way the light hit the covers in the morning in Koh Lanta, the Parthenon at sunset, flower stalls anywhere and everywhere*), but this quiet morning moment with the mountains ranks quite high on the list.
~ Decay ~ 
Cape Meares, OR 
What are some of your moments? I’d love to know.
Wishing you safe travels if you are traveling over the holidays.
Merry Christmas to you!
Love,
Isabelle
Xx
*I told you, no holds barred #overromanticizingeverything
Advertisements Share this:
