Dreek

Friday 27th March

The Scots have a word for this weather.  And it is dreek.  And the very sound of the word, the almost squeaky sound, the slight sneer as it rolls off your tongue lets you know exactly what it means.  Cold, wet and windy.  Dark brooding skies with no hint of sunshine ever again penetrating this gloom.  It is unseasonably cold; March should be about spring flowers bursting into bloom, and indeed back in Eymet a couple of Magnolia trees are even starting their short-lived and vivid burst into colour.  Here you cannot even lift your head up to observe any crocuses or daffodils – all is gloom.  Not sure if this is settled in for the whole day yet, but it feels like it.

It is Thursday morning for me as I sit in Pret watching the stream of soaking commuters shaking the rain off their umbrellas and coats and queuing patiently for their morning fix of coffee.  Breakfast on the run.  And the news is pretty dreek too.  Another mysterious plane crash; too many unanswered questions.  Now a leaked report seems to suggest that one of the pilots had left the cockpit and sought re-entry by knocking gently.  No answer and he knocks again then starts banging furiously – all just minutes before the crash.  Was it suicide?  Could it have possibly been deliberate, or was the other pilot unconscious?  Questions we may never know the answer to, just as last year at almost the same time of year the Malaysian plane went missing and is still not found.  In a strange way these “accidents” could be an unexpected result of the twin towers outrage.  Cockpits now are locked to prevent possible terrorist passengers getting to the pilot; the cockpit doors can only be opened from the inside once the plane is in the air.  Who knows?  Maybe we have just made life too complicated.  I am at present a very frequent flyer and though I am mildly annoyed at the probably unnecessary restrictions regarding fluids and having to remove belt and shoes and any metal before going through the security arch (by the way last time at Stansted someone knicked two pound coins from my tray, which I thought was a bit pathetic) I stand in line and do as I am told.  You never know, do you?  Another two days of dreek-like work and then flying (fingers crossed) out again to Bergerac.  Hopefully leaving all this dreekness far behind me…

Update 1)  The rain stopped and the sun came out, Wonderful.

Update 2)  Looks like the co-pilot took the plane down deliberately killing 150 people.  Terrible.