Thursday, February 07, 2013

Planes, trains & automobiles

So here's the deal: the next leg of my grand Canadian tour would see me fly from Montreal to Toronto tonight, have some meetings tomorrow, then train it home to London at the end of the day.

Mother Nature apparently has other plans. She's brought a Texas Clipper to southern Ontario, which means some parts of my intended route are either now, or are about to be, getting dumped on by a whole lot of snow. As I write this, I'm in the (very crowded) airport in Montreal, my flight has already been bumped, then delayed. And I'm wondering what comes next.

I know, I know. I'm Canadian, and this kind of thing should be part of my DNA by now. I should be used to weather delays, and I should be adept at navigating my way through them with something approaching a state of workable grace. And, yes, to a certain extent I am indeed on both fronts.

Doesn't mean I don't let my pulse race a bit when I realize a routine flight is about to become an adventure. Doesn't mean I don't let my eyes, ears and mind go into high-def mode as they record every last detail about the experience. Doesn't mean I don't try to find the good in a situation most other would write off as a hopeless mess.

Because life gets messy sometimes. And if the worst of it involves a John Candy-esque voyage home alongside other total strangers just trying to do the same thing, then I figure I'm doing pretty well indeed. Bring it on, Ma Nature. I think I'm actually going to enjoy this.

Your turn: How do you brave the storm?

2 comments:

dean said...

I heard that on the news last night on my drive home and I thought, oh, I wonder if that's going to mess up Carmi's road show...

Unknown said...

I've always enjoyed a good storm, however, I prefer thunder to snow - either way I love witnessing the awesome power of nature when it manifests in weather.

I guess I don't 'cope' with storms so much as I anticipate and enjoy them. I'm with you.... bring it on!