F.O.: A Saga

It all started one Thursday, when the world woke up to find a certain unpronounceable volcano in Iceland had brought hubris to man-kind:

If we thought human-kind could gad about in aeroplanes, defying the laws of gravity; Eyfjajökull brought us back down to earth.

If we thought European Member States could act decisively and efficiently, thanks to the instruments brought in under the Lisbon Treaty; the five-day delay in agreeing a cohesive strategy put pay to that delusion.

And if Scientists thought human-nature could be defied, and multi-national companies would tolerate losing billions of euro daily in the interest of human safety; they were asked to think again.

Those of you who read here regularly might have been surprised by my sudden silence – did the ash-cloud eat me? Then again, many of you also read Ravelry and Twitter; so you already knew that the infamous ash-cloud prevented DH from returning home from San Francisco for five days – leaving me to wrangle the three crazies and keep down a job. Needless to say, more people expressed concern for me than for him! San Fran is not the worst place in the world to get stranded, eh?

I should have kept a better track of the week but I guess these are the high-lights:

• We wake up, of a Thursday morning, to find the world taking a sudden interest in Secondary School level Geography: volcanic activity, constituents of an ash-cloud, wind patterns and weather systems are hotly discussed topics of conversation; 
• Not since Sigur Rós‘s last album have so many people tried pronouncing Icelandic names;
• realising DH is “stranded” near yarn-shops I’ve never been to, I put a call-out on Ravelry for suggestion for some compensation yarn: http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/irish-knitters/1098908/1-25#1
• Tales unfold from fellow-Ravelers on Irish Knitters Group of stranded boyfriends unable to see their girlfriends; brides flying in for a wedding they’ve been waiting 25 years to do; parents not being able to see their daughter graduate. It was astonishing to realise just how much we take flying for granted;
• Meanwhile, on Twitter, people were having incredible adventures: driving from the south of Spain back to England;
• I get some great yarn and shop suggestions; which I promptly pass on to DH
• DH’s yarn buying field-trip is in vain – three out of five yarn shops on his list have moved; the fourth doesn’t answer the phone;
• The fifth yarn shop – the one he didn’t visit or ring – turns out to be the “golden ticket” yarn shop!
• The same day, DH gets word that Delta Airlines have re-booked him on a return flight to Dublin, via New York;
• At that stage Irish Airspace is still closed so DH doesn’t want to take the flight – being stuck in SF near his customers is better than being stuck in NY near no-one he knows;
• DH takes a leap of faith and gets on the plane to NY, fully expecting his onward leg to be cancelled
• Dublin Airspace opens at the last-minute – while DH is in the air on his flight from NY! His is only the second flight to land at Dublin Airport in seven days.
• When I get the call that he has landed safely, I skive off work to pick him up (bold, I know)
• Parking at the “Set-down Area Only” at the Airport I burst into tears when a Garda taps on my window to move me on (wtf? I never burst into tears – obviously more pent-up anguish than I’d allowed myself to admit! The Garda was very nice about it, very apologetic – though I still moved on)
• DH & I are re-united and, after I splurge for yarn online at The Yarn and Fiber Company, I forgive him for coming home with no “Compo” yarn!

And so, a happy ending! I got DH home eventually; I got to come off the strict yarn-diet (having difficulty getting back on it, mind you) and the balance of my Brownie-Point Deposit Account is so high the crafty-world is my oyster.