December 19th – Heading Home

December 19th
Now at the Brussels airport waiting for my flight. Got an okay 3 hours sleep last night as I stayed up to post my last in-country blog entry. Didn’t have a ton to say, but had plenty of pictures to show from the Louvre. Wallowed in an extremely hot bath before crashing, listening to the couple next door loudly coupling.

Got up at 6:15 AM, showered and went to check out. The room was already covered so I called a cab which arrived promptly and off to the airport I went. It wasn’t snowing this morning, so that was good. But when I got here I saw cots everywhere and people sleeping in corners and in walkways. Apparently London is snowed in and no one’s leaving.

Got through check-in okay as well as security. Was going to try and get something to eat before security but it was so crowded it wasn’t worth it. Decided to try my luck inside.

And that’s what I did. Found a smallish line and got a Ham sandwich, some potato chips and a coke. Not a usual breakfast but given the circumstances it was delicious. I’m here really early but felt that was best so there was no rushing about and worrying. Now it’s just a wait. No problem.

Spoke with a very sweet and beautiful Australian girl who was stuck here last night. She had a great attitude and we laughed about the weird people cutting in line. Maybe she and her companions will get to London today, but it doesn’t look promising.

Will miss being here. So many nice people and so much to see and do. I barely got to scratch the surface.

Have really missed my children. Had dinner last night in the hotel brasserie and sitting alone I looked at pictures of the children on the phone. Found myself smiling, and outright laughing, at some of the pictures of their antics. Gave me a warm feeling inside. Can’t wait to see them.

Am already tired thinking about packing up for Texas. But it will be so great to see mom and to be with the children. Should be a fun Christmas, though I’ll miss Allison and Andrew.

Want to follow up with Carl on seeing if there’s anything we can do to work with the Ypres World War One museum on the documentary for the Centennial of the war.

As usual I saw so much amazing art while in Brussels, and I’m not just talking about in the museums. The amount of beautiful art to be found in the European BD (Graphic Novels, etc.) is quite stunning, really. Not all of it is to my taste, but it’s still beautiful work. The stuff that is to my liking is extraordinary and never ceases to take my breath away. Such a consistently high level of work from each album by these creators. They’re pouring their hearts into the work. And what I really love about the books is the content. It’s not about superheroes beating each other up, but human interest stories.

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