Fire In The Skies
Dear friend,
We woke around dawn to a fire-red sky. "Red sky in the morning, shepherd’s warning," sounded in my mind. My Grandad on my Dad’s side taught me that one, although he was unclear on the exact meaning. Grandad wasn’t big into explaining things.
I was all set to drive Chiara to Manor House so she could pick up the Piccadilly line to Heathrow for an early flight to Hamburg. She has a sold-out Commedia dell'Arte workshop to run this weekend.
But that wasn’t to be.
Overnight, a fire at an electrical substation had closed the airport. All flights were canceled, and we jumped online, flailing around, looking for alternatives. The fire now in our brains and veins as we sought to make sense of the options. She’s now flying into Berlin and taking a train into Hamburg.
We had separate flights booked for reasons that are uninteresting, so I’m already here, watching the sun swiftly setting through the bare branches of a tree from our hotel room. Comforted by the sound of wood pigeons, the crows, and the high, sweet voices of songbirds.
People would have been traveling to say their last goodbyes to loved ones. Or for a wedding. Or maybe with a sick child. Coming into Hamburg, there’s a poster of a child sitting in the rubble of Gaza.
How do we make sense of a world marked by tragedy?
And yet we must.
Each person whose path crosses ours wants the same thing as us.
Each wants bliss and joy.
If you get right down to it.
Both come through connection, to another or to some aspect of the rare beauty our world offers.
To something at the heart of things.
Deep.
Meaningful.
Transcendent.
That many of us are looking where neither can be found is more reason for kindness and compassion.
The needle pointing true.
As the sun sets on a way of life that is changing rapidly.
We can all use a little more kindness in our lives.
Taking stock of the simple pleasures.
Counting our blessings.
Offering comfort to those in need.
As best we can.
In the mess and the mud.
Till tomorrow
Love
Mikey