mission accomplished

OK. The phrase does not have the cachet it once did.

But I do have some good news. At least, good news for the family Cotton. I came north to help my brother put my mother's house on the market. A month ago, we moved her into her new retirement premises. You know the tale (vignettes of a northern visit).

When I flew back to Mexico at the start of this month, there was plenty of work to be done before the house could go on the market -- two rooms of Mom's possessions and a thorough cleaning. Darrel, Christy, and Kaitlyn (my pistol-packing, snake-rearing niece) did yeoman work.

The next task was listing the house for sale. Darrel was waiting for my return, but we were both a bit concerned our timing was off. Even though Bend has a very seller-friendly housing market, on Labor Day we had slipped outside of the traditional best time for selling a house.

Because of my cancelled and delayed flights, Darrel thought it was a better idea to list the house immediately. It turned out to be a very good idea.

Mom listed the house list on Monday morning. Within an hour, the first offer came in. By the end of the day, there were a total of four offers -- all above the listed price. Tuesday afternoon, Mom chose the offer she preferred. Within three weeks, she should have cash in hand.

If circumstances were normal, I would simply stay in Prineville until the house closes. But I have some university admission matters for Omar that requires my presence in Mexico. So, when Mom has her money, I will fly north to Prineville.

That last sentence sums up my feeling about flying in this virus outbreak. It appears we will be living with the virus for some time. And, just like climate change, we will need to adapt our lives to our circumstances. Alaska Airlines is doing a serviceable job of keeping their passengers convinced that they are flying in a secure environment -- as secure as a person can be stuffed into an aluminum tube hurtling through the atmosphere.

I wrote two versions of this essay in the Redmond airport. They disappeared somewhere in the great rolling plains of the internet. I am now awaiting my connecting flight in Seattle to fly down to Los Angeles. Tomorrow I will fly home to Manzanillo.

We can then chat a bit about matters other than airplanes and smoke. I look forward to it.