Catching up

‘apologies for my silence the past two weeks.  A break in posts likely doesn’t indicate a health or economic disaster, only that I’m in transit, accumulating air miles and sleep deficits, gathering notes and pictures to post once I get back.

In this case, I’ve been on a long loop from London to the Netherlands, around to Boulder and Chicago, finally back to Maastricht, Reading, and Poole.

The purpose was a mix of business and family: closing out elements of my son’s estate, investor and board meetings, exchanging the old lease car for new.

The flights were generally on-time, the food was good,the weather warm and dry, the visits with family and friends delightful. The changing time zones take a toll, as does too much restaurant food and too little exercise, lots of long flights and hopping among hotel rooms.

Yesterday’s homeward drive back from Maastricht took twice as long as it should have, though.  I arrived at the Dunkerque ferry entry early, just behind  a group of strikers from the Channel Tunnel union.  They joined hands and blocked the road for nearly two hours until the French police arrived.

I missed the boat by minutes; it cost me hours of travel time.  And the stiff northeasterly winds made for a pitching ride all the way across the Channel.

  

I’m back now, nursing my desiccated plants and jet-lagged psyche. I’ll backfill a few stories in the coming days and get the forward writings back on track shortly.