Monday, February 12, 2007

Packing It In

When we lived in LA, P.Pie loved trips to the beach. The night before, she’d get everything ready; she’d packed up a small tote with blankets, a change of clothes, and various ointments and rubs to prevent the sun from turning us into cancer-riddled raisins.

My job was to pack the cooler – some sandwiches, a couple of sodas, a water or two, and possible a beer. Or six.

Whatever.

Now that we live in a climate where the winter sports are more the norm, we pack accordingly. Skis, snowboard, appropriate layers of clothing, goggles, gloves, and power bars for energy.

On the plus side, I don’t pack any beer. I bring money for the lodge bar at the bottom of the mountain.

There are lots of other kinds of packing that I know how to do – suitcases, rucksacks, clean up kits, boxes, moving vans, theaters, a lunch, wheel bearings… I can pack a lot things.

I can even pack on the pounds.

But I have no idea what P.Pie should pack for the hospital. A nightgown, a change of clothes to go home in, maybe a movie or two… what else?

So the question is, what did you pack for the trip to the hospital? What about what you didn’t pack that you wished you had?

[ed. note: is there a bar at hospitals?]