Ascension : Grotto News - Thought For The Week
Submitted by The Islander (Shari Parkhill) 05.02.2009 (Article Archived on 19.02.2009)

Well, it is certainly nice to be back on Ascension. I had a wonderful visit with my family, especially baby Dominik, but it is a bit of a shock to the system to leave Ascension and end up landing in Bangor, Maine in -30 Celsius weather!

Well, it is certainly nice to be back on Ascension.  I had a wonderful visit with my family, especially baby Dominik, but it is a bit of a shock to the system to leave Ascension and end up landing in Bangor, Maine in -30 Celsius weather!  At least, I could give thanks that my US Airways plane landed on the runway in Bangor, not the Hudson River as another one was doing at about the same time!  God was certainly with those folks; He gave them a wonderful pilot to handle the emergency.

Regardless of the adjustment to the cold weather, I had a nice time.  Lots of people came to visit when we had a get together at my place.  Dominik was the guest of honour and we joked that we had to take numbers to have the chance to cuddle him!  It was nice to see old friends and relatives.  But as always, the week passed too quickly and before I knew it, I was leaving in the early hours of the morning on my way back to the Bangor airport for the trip back to Florida. 

We’d had a big snowstorm on the Sunday, followed by freezing rain, and everything was still covered with snow and ice when I left on Wednesday morning.  I live out in the country in New Brunswick and the roads were barely plowed but passable.  My headlights were shining off the snow banks as I was driving down the “main” road in the dark.  The ice reflecting the light looked like fireflies sparkling in the dark.  It was truly beautiful.  As I crossed the river on the ferry in the dark, I could feel the ice floes under the boat.  The sun was rising over the Bay of Fundy as I neared the border and it was an awesome sight, one of the prettiest sunrises I have seen in a long time.  And as I was driving through the backwoods of Maine, the sun was shining brightly and the snow covered forest and mountains were a beautiful vista.  I much prefer the sunshine and warmth of Ascension, but I could still appreciate the beauty that the winter season brings.

It was cool when I got back to Florida, but certainly better than the frozen north!  It soon warmed up and I had a chance to enjoy the sunshine….actually, more time than I expected considering the long, confused, convoluted trip back to Ascension.  I think this trip south was a lesson in patience!  On Monday at noon we started with a slight delay due to mechanical difficulties but were soon on our way.  Unfortunately about 40 minutes out, the pilot announced that due to another problem we were heading back to Melbourne. 

And so began an odyssey that most of us would rather forget.  Two days in Melbourne followed, but at least we were at a nice hotel on the beach and the weather was fine.  It was just boring, waiting around for news, and checking in every couple of hours.  Finally, at five o’clock on Wednesday we headed back to Patrick, and from there on the bus to the Melbourne airport again.  We knew that the Antigua airport closed at 11 pm but we were assured that arrangements had been made for a late arrival.

So, imagine our surprise when the pilot announced three hours later that we were beginning our descent into San Juan, Puerto Rico!!  Apparently, arrangements had not been made with the proper authorities, and Antigua was most definitely closed.  One of the Space A passengers joked that this was my fault because while we were all waiting at Patrick I mentioned that if we experienced more problems that I wanted them to land anywhere; pick any island, just don’t take us back to Florida!! 

We sat for a while on the tarmac waiting for a gate, then we sat on the plane waiting for instructions.  These went from going to a hotel, to waiting in the terminal for an hour to refuel and head back to Melbourne, to finally after a couple of hours, waiting until Antigua opened and landing there!  We were all quite glad that this was the option that was followed, even though it was a long wait in the chilly terminal building! 

We finally arrived in Antigua at 6 a.m.  When we got there, we were all bussed to the Air Station as usual.  We had been told that it would be a quick turnaround, and on to Ascension for the seven of us on that leg.  It really didn’t come as a surprise when that changed as well, and we were informed that the crew had been ordered on a rest.  After four hours, we made it to the Jolly Beach Resort, where we finally had a chance to properly rest ourselves!  It is certainly not a bad place to kill a few hours.  Later that night, we were finally winging our way to Ascension with no more delays, or alternate destinations! 

The trip seemed to be one long ordeal of waiting: waiting in terminals, hotels, on the plane, and driving in buses from one place to another!  All of the passengers were great about it; there was a lot of joking, and a feeling of resignation.  What else could one do?    It truly was a lesson in patience, and the acceptance that sometimes things are just beyond our control, and not worth getting bothered about.  Plans got changed, especially for those heading out on the following northbound plane.  But that is a part of living here on Ascension that we are all familiar with.  Planes and ships get delayed, and we cope with it.  In the grand scheme of things, it’s a relatively minor inconvenience.  Sit back, accept the inevitable, and enjoy the little detours in life as much as you can.  You might land in a place you’ve never been before!

I would like to thank my fellow passengers for being a great group to travel (or not) with.  They kept me calm and laughing.  I hope I contributed some of the same to them.  Special thanks to Diane and Donna for the meal time company, and to Paul for the tailgate party at Patrick!  I’ll certainly have a story to tell Dominik when he gets older about the first time his Nanna came to visit him!