Coming Home

“There’s about a 50/50 chance we’ll be able to land in St. John’s due to fog,” announced the pilot. So when the runway lights appeared out of nowhere and we felt the impact of the landing, was I happy to be home or just to not be spending the rest of the night on the plane wondering when we could take-off again from Goose Bay?

GOOSE BAY! That’s in Labrador. At least an hour away.

There are many reasons that flights I’ve been on have been unable to land in Newfoundland, including:

1. Fog
2. Snow
3: Ice
4. Some combination of #2 and #3 (sleet, hail)
5. Moose

Yes, moose. I’ve been redirected to Gander because of moose. Then had to take a 4 hour bus ride home to St. John’s. It’s my personal belief that if you live in Gander you kind of deserve that 4 hour bus ride from St. John’s to Gander to think about why you live in such a hole. Sorry to anyone from Gander. There are worse places to live in this province, I suppose.

The point is that I was watching “Eat, Pray, Love” on the flight and didn’t make it to the end because we actually landed. It was a bit of a relief since the part on gelato (highly glossed-over anyway) was already over, and it was all downhill from there…

My other point is that when the captain made the announcement, most people sighed and moaned a little. All you can do at that point is pray, which is why I’m glad I was watching the movie. I remembered how lovely the book was. There’s a very sweet line where the main character is in an ashram in India talking to another resident. He says:

“Think of what you could do if you took all that effort and space in your head you use to think about him for something else. Think about him fondly, wish him well, then take a big breath and let God rush in to the space. Let his spirit fill you up, feed you with cold, brilliant air.”

So as a prayer to land in Newfoundland, I took a deep breath and pushed out Montreal, and in came this big swell of home. The lights from the airport appeared outside the window, and as the plane wheels set down the world seemed to sparkle.