It is 3.00 a.m. Here and sleep has to be abandoned for the moment at least. I have been awoken by a huge storm. I have seen some bad ones before and Brussels in Belgium springs to mind but tonight the sky is lit by a stream of electrical forks coming down all around. The noise is defeaning with alternating bangs and then cracks that appear to start in one direction and end in the other outside the lights went off for about thirty minutsand the hotels did for about two seconds before coming back on so I am assuming they have some backup generator that kicked in. The rain is torential and the already flooded garden is awash. I will wait until morning when I can see better the state of it, but from the light from the sky is showing it is pretty bad already.
I am due to be up in three hours to get to the plane but I can se there will most likely be more delays but as I don't want to be in the sky if there is a fear of this I am happy to wait it out.
As I laid in bed watching it made one realise how insignificant and fragile we are. At one moment just one of this flashes could evaporate someone. So many natural forces are on show here and everyone many million times stronger than we are. We are as helpless as any animal is against the forces on show. Whilst we think we rule this planet all out inventions give us no more than basic shelter against the elements.
Back to me and I think my journey back to the airport will be a fruitless one this morning but it will give me something to do, I could spend a few hours standing in lines before finding another hotel to review the room for a night. Some queue lightweights have family members who swap turns in the queues whilst they sit and rest but us professionals tough it out and stand for the duration and when we finally get to the head and are directed to the next line we rush to start the process over again. WE ARE the queue professionals. We also recognise our fellow men and we talk. I did that yesterday and not about the weather, no siree, we talk about the state of the airport business and why they only have one person to deal with each queue but have three computers at each service station. Oh we all laugh together. I was talking to one guy in the baggage line and he was going to rip the head off the poor woman who had been sent out to front the masses but as I was behind him in the queue I pleaded with him to spare her as if he killed her there would be a longer wait for someone else from the staff to appear and pick up the mantle. He reluctantly agreed and I moved over successfully from the baggage line to the try and book a hotel line while he muttered unhappily to the hire a car line and we bid our farewells and safe journey calls as I talked to a man from Pittsburgh who was trying to get to His work in California.
I have interspaced this writing with looks at the rain and the now dying electrical storm and seeing it is gone four in the morning I will attempt to get another hour and a half before I use that coffee pot to try and make a cup of tea.
Night all
No comments:
Post a Comment