Ashes in Sunny Skies

You can't see it, neither can you smell it. But with a computed 1% danger to aircraft engines the skies were shut for 6 days. Almost a week of peace and quiet for those dwellers near airports, even birds could be heard chirping and bunnies seen hopping (across the runway, mind you).

The big eruption happened on the 14th April. Like most, I went to bed that evening in London thinking I'd be home soon only to wake up on the morning of 15th seeing images of an angry volcano on BBC. Flights subsequently got cancelled. Over the days that followed, air spaces and airports remained closed as airlines, passengers and crew waited for news every hour. It's fortunate at times like these we've got comfortable accommodation provided by the company, but to be told you've got a flight to operate and then none, then again, and changed the next minute... this fly/no-fly non status is just tedious. Everything just became one big ash cloud of uncertainty and I got bored. I wanted to come home and see my cat.

The nature of my job is anything but routine. It's hard to make plans months, weeks even days ahead as it is with your availability all depending on the ever-changing Duty Roster - unpredictable events like these make things all the more vulnerable. Not just the weather or traffic that concerns what time you'll be home in the evenings, we're at the mercy of many factors that'll affect getting home at all. Back home to see your folks, to water the plants, to lie in your own bed, to have a hearty meal... to make sure everything's alright. People complain all the time of mundane chores, of not getting away. Well then my job is full of surprises and being away. Volatile it may seem but it can also be great fun, I must admit.

So... after what should've been just a 9-day trip turned 17 days, having flown across continents - back and forth and then stuck - I'm home. I like being home when I am... heck I even enjoy the mundane chores. The feeling of belonging is important. Like my cat, home is a constant. For all it's worth, that's what I need when the flying's done.