HNL to ORD

Today started on a flight from Honolulu to Chicago. It’s a direct flight (good) but long (8 hours) and travels overnight (bad). We arrived at 5.19 am in Chicago – I with barely an hours sleep (not a good look or mood for me) and E with about 5. Fortunately E’s kind mother is collecting us, so we do not need to negotiate taxis and trains. At this point I am unsure how much of anything I can manage – lack of sleep certainly makes things more difficult to handle (I can see why some of the symptoms of sleep deprivation are undistinguishable from those of depression)

On the way from the airport we stopped for breakfast in a family-run restaurant. This type of restaurant seems only to exist in the US. There is a choice between booths and tables. The waitress, often offering coffee refills, is wearing an uniform of white apron over a dress though it is obviously all one piece. The menu has short stacks and regular pancakes. Opposite us sits an old couple in silence eating breakfast slowly. It is incredibly early (only 6.30) but there are still a reasonable number of tables occupied. As E’s mother pays for our breakfast and old woman informs us she just turned 82. She is looking well on it but seems lonely as she chats at length to us. She attends the same church as E’s family and is telling us repeatedly that she thought E’s brother was E’s husband. It’s a type of intimate exchange I expect to see in a rural area rather than a large city like Chicago.

After breakfast we go to E’s house. At this stage dawn has its grip on the day and I fear in the battle between daylight and exhaustion, daylight will win. This happens to me with distressing frequency. Today is not an occasion and I sleep on a flat bed, glorious compared with the economy airline seat. My alarm set for 11.30 wakes me. I feel so much more able to face the day but know I am still tired enough to sleep soundly tonight.

Then I take the L (Chicago’s underground/elevated train system) to meet my friends M&R to get the key to their place where I will be staying the next 2 weeks. R joked a few days ago that she will get “the B&B ready for me”. Its lovely to see them again. We order take-in (so much more choice in the US than in Ireland) and catch up.