Home at Last

I stand in the foyer waiting for the shuttle to appear. Fellow travelers stranded by the storm fill me in on the morning news. All the railroad departures have now been cancelled because the tunnels filled with water and the trains couldn't run. Several major highways are closed because of flooding. Transportation is difficult at best and will remain so for hours. It is still raining lightly.

I wonder if I will be stuck here another day, but I am assured that the planes are flying. They are using snow plows to clear the water from the runways. I have seen that already. The shuttle is late. Everything is late. I have left myself lots of time, preferring to sit safely at the airport until my flight leaves. Others are not so fortunate and are worried they will miss their flight. I pray for them.

Water sprays everywhere as the shuttle weaves around police cars and emergency vehicles to get us back to the airport. I check the flight board. My flight says its ontime. I find a quiet place and sit, having eaten breakfast at the hotel. The clock ticks slowly but my hope remains high that I will manage to get out of Chicago and back home.

With only a slight delay of an hour, we are invited to board. We are mostly seated when one of the attendants announces that the pilot has been changed and we are waiting for the paperwork to catch up. More time ticks by. I do not lose faith. Finally we get the good news that we are cleared for takeoff and we butt into the middle of a line of over 40 planes that I could see from the window jockeying for the runway.

I recall how last night Chicago looked like some scene from a King Kong movie with the two airport terminals and all the circling places and flashing lights and darkness. Today it just looks like a normal sprawling city interrupted by a huge body of water over which we soon find ourselves flying.

I will make it back! Today! Yeah! I can't wait to unpack, shake out the wrinkles, take a hot shower, and snuggle down in my own place. I don't want to even think about going anywhere else for months.