Monday 19 April 2010

nothing but bluebirds all day long

The day Saturday seemed amazingly reflective and still, notwithstanding a wedding ceremony and reception at noon, and the murmurings of travel chaos and the local chaos of a fire at the clinic that culminated in the safe and orderly evacuation of a couple hundred patients.  It was gloriously and fully spring time, and the day began with disco shower: the LEDs are powered by the water-pressure and the color indicates the water temperature.
After the service, I sauntered around our fair city and found some hidden gardens that I did not realize were there before, and remarked on the cloudless sky--which was also conspicuously absent any aircraft. 
Not on a major jetway and with only a hobby airport, contrails are not constantly streaking and criss-crossing the sky, but the skies above usually have some traffic.  I imagined that it would be very strange for H returning from a seminar and passing Frankfurt airport with all activity on hold.  A German airline, realizing longer delays would become untenable, have dispatched a few test-flights between Munich and Frankfurt, and pointed to the lack of catastrophic engine failure as a sign that the invisible volcanic ash is a myth.  I only am hoping that the dust settles before next week and mounting delays do not disrupt our travel plans.