Miles to Go - or Not

Last week, I received an amazing gift - an email invitation to stay at our Italian friends' farmhouse in Tuscany. All we needed to do was somehow manage to get ourselves there in October. The invitation was so heartfelt and such a surprise that it left me both speechless and in tears.

Since I'm currently between employment gigs, I first thought it would be best to pass up on the opportunity in favor of sitting at home in the dark where I could amuse myself by worrying about finances. But then I remembered that over the years Greg and I have amassed enough airline miles to purchase at least one free round-trip ticket to Europe ... and besides, our Italian friends were incredibly kind to make the offer to begin with, and we miss them so much that the price of one coach fare seemed a small price to pay indeed.

Greg checked his calendar and decided he could carve out one week from his teaching schedule and so, armed with dates and WorldPerks numbers, I called the airline.

Why do I always forget that just because we have miles doesn't mean we can use miles? Having is in the realm of possibility, using is a myth. Whenever I've tried to redeem miles in the past, I've found myself embarking on a convoluted journey trapped somewhere between hope and despair. Redeeming miles is like playing the old Mario Brothers video game, struggling to conquer every obstacle thrown at you in order to get to the next level but never reaching the end of the game - in this case, the goal at the end of the game is a cramped seat in the coach section of a giant cylinder flying through the air.

Having versus using: Although Greg has enough miles for one free round trip ticket to Florence, there are no WorldPerks seats available on the day we need to return home. This information caught me off guard although I should have expected it based on previous experience. Greg and I could, however, split his miles between the two of us and use the airline's "Cash and Miles" program, paying for the tickets with a combination of miles and cash.

This option, although do-able, would end up costing us over $1,100 and we'd have to take a train from Florence to Milan, and stay overnight in a hotel in order to catch the return flight thus adding a few hundred dollars to the cost of the trip. That solution didn't sit well with me; it was cumbersome, involved hours of extra travel and, after all was said and done, would cost only slightly less than two coach fares.

Not willing to abandon the idea of miles redemption altogether, I then asked the agent if we could use all the miles we have between us to at least upgrade from two $750 coach fares to two seats in Business Class. (Before I die, just once I'd like to unfold myself from a coach seat and move up to Business Class. Just once.) The agent reassured me that, yes, we could certainly use our miles to upgrade, but in fact the $750 coach fare is a non-upgradable fare. To upgrade, we'd have to first purchase upgradable coach tickets which run in the neighborhood of $2,600 apiece. Even if we wanted to take advantage of this opportunity, there are no upgradable seats available on the days we want to travel anyway.

Yes, I realize that all life's problems should be so difficult. Last week when our friends offered their home in Tuscany to us, I was overjoyed at the possibility of travel and adventure. After my phone conversation with WorldPerks left me discouraged and out of patience, I remembered that when frequent flyer miles are involved, there are no possibilities.

In the end, we compared cost to travel time to length of stay and decided to simply forgo the trip this year. The good news: we still have all those miles!

"If Airlines Sold Paint"
www.cartalk.com/content/read-on/2002/06.22.html

Leapin' Lizards, Part II

I spend a part of every day wandering around our yard, testing the tomatoes for degree of ripeness, watching the birds, looking for gopher holes. On any given day we have an equal number of each - good news when you're talking about tomatoes and birds, not so much for gopher holes. I expect that within a month or so our little lawn will collapse and disappear as the gophers finally manage to excavate and carry away the last remaining bit of dirt from underneath, accompanied by a tiny subterranean cheer and rodent high-fiving (or high-however-many-digits-they-have), culminating in an exuberant tossing of miniature hard hats into the air.

As I wander I also take note of our blue bellies who continue to amaze me.

This is the season for baby lizards which we seem to have in abundance. Yesterday I was examining a gopher hole when a movement on the ground caught my eye...it was a baby lizard no bigger than a minute. The thing about these babies is they hatch with the instinct to flee firmly ingrained in their reptilian DNA but they're not quite sure yet where to or who from. I carefully put my hand down next to this baby, and without hesitation the little guy ran right up onto my outstretched palm. From there he rested on my index finger, his body no longer than the distance from my finger tip to the first joint, his tail adding another inch. He was a weightless, perfect specimen - alert, still, and very comfortable on his perch. We walked around the garden for a bit, until I gently put him back on the ground where I found him.

Just as seasons change, so do these amazing lizards as we move from Summer into Fall. No more fighting males, or mating rituals. Now I see adult lizards shedding their skin as they grow, their tattered too-tight suits hanging off their bodies while bright, brand new skin appears underneath. It's a rather untidy transition; unlike snakes who neatly slip out of their skins (lizards, after all, have four sleeves to contend with), lizards sort of burst out of theirs looking all the world like scaly Incredible Hulks with shreds of their old skin falling away in bits and pieces.

In a way, it's a living metaphor for what it's like for us humans to go through change. Rarely do we shed our old selves neatly and all of a piece, but once we get through the messy process we are renewed, larger in spirit and better than we were before.

Tutti a Tavola?

I saw "Julie & Julia" the other night and while I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, it left quite a bitter taste in my mouth.

Why? Because it wasn't my idea. It was the real Julie - not me - who wondered what it would be like to work her way through "The Art of French Cooking" one recipe at a time, who then actually followed through on her idea, wrote a dynamite blog, published a book, and eventually saw her idea realized on the big screen. Of course, when she embarked on her year-long adventure, Julie had no idea the blog would lead to all sorts of grander things - but still.

The point is, so many people have great ideas they pursue just for the heck of it and then, voila! the idea takes off and there you are. The promise of fame and fortune isn't the impetus, it's all about the passion. Well, I mean even Julia Child's career started that way, if you want to get technical about it. One minute she decides she loves to eat and before you know it, she's changed the way Americans cook. It probably didn't seem that quick a transformation to Julia (in fact it took decades) but you catch my drift. In the case of Julie and Julia, each woman focused on her specific passion (for Julia it was food, for Julie it was writing) and went for the gusto.

I've been chewing on this idea for the past week or so, that if you find your passion in life and pursue it in a way that makes you happy doors will open eventually. In the meantime, you'll have some fun and learn a whole lot about yourself in the process.

The other realization that hit me was that there are many other success stories out there about people who focused on one thing, pursued it for awhile, then sat back while book and movie deals were made. The guy who ate fast food for a month comes to mind. "Under the Tuscan Sun," "My Year in Provence," heck even Studs Terkel's oral histories - the list is endless. Which means that there are still many unclaimed great ideas out there that people might find interesting and perhaps there's even one I can write about.

I'm on the waiting list for a writing program, which is probably a great first step. The big idea is still elusive, however. Four of my greatest passions in life are entertaining friends, cooking and eating good food, and Italy, but I don't want to write a day-by-day account while I work my way through a cookbook (been done), and I can't purchase a villa in Tuscany and remodel it (been done, don't have the bucks). But what if I select a great classic Italian cookbook, prepare a different extravagant and seasonal meal each month using the recipes from the book, and invite friends to sit around the table and talk about food and life while eating the meal I've prepared?

Okay, it needs some work, but its a start.

There's another Italian saying of which I'm quite fond: "A tavola non si invecchia mai." Roughly translated: No one grows old around the table. What do you think? Would you come join us?