Hiccups

Well we are back in the hills of Cervinara, sweating through a big heatwave.  They say it should break soon, and personally I can't wait.  I'm sitting in our local bar where air conditioning is non-existent, and I feel like I need to put an umbrella over my computer to protect it from the sweat that is raining off my face!  Fortunately, the house is always pretty comfortable, and a fan keeps the air moving.  By evening, we are always able to relax and enjoy a bit of company in the shade of the house.

Our trip was basically uneventful, and that is all we can hope for now.  When we boarded our plane in Bradley Airport we were dismayed to find that we were directly across from the loo, against a wall so there was not even a millimeter of space to recline.  Yikes!  Fortunately I have a resourceful husband who went in search of empty seats and found a whole row available.  We scooted our butts up there real quick before anyone else scoped it out.  Made for a very comfortable flight.

But what about hiccups?  This first came to mind as we were waiting to board our Aer Lingus flight in Bradley.  I was working a crossword puzzle when I heard what sounded like the worst hiccups ever, the kind of body wracking spasms that are painful.  I looked up and saw a big man with shaved head, gauges in his ears, and sleeves of tattoos sobbing in the arms of a young woman.  These were the sobs of such sorrow that my heart immediately broke for this young fellow.  He was someone whom I might have wanted to avoid if I met him walking down the street, and yet here I just wanted to reach out to him to offer him whatever solace I could.  I can only imagine the loss he was feeling and what was awaiting him at his destination.  I was brought up short at the prejudice that I might have felt and was reminded that even under the most hardened of appearances we are all just one step away from painful losses. 

As we were walking through Dublin airport to get to our connecting flight, we passed a woman sitting on the floor in front of an emergency call box. The contents of her purse were strewn around her and I could see some diabetes tools among them.  She was with her husband so I knew she would be taken care of, but as someone who recently had a health "hiccup" in an airport, one that caused us to miss our flight and to spend a day in the ER, I felt for her.  As we age I find myself thinking more of how we are all susceptible to unexpected health issues and I am grateful for every trip that we are able to get through without complications!

We arrived in Naples at Capodichino airport and then....we sat.  It took a good 20 minutes for the stairs to arrive so we could disembark.  We finally got on the bus transport to the terminal, went through passport control and headed to the baggage pick up area where.....we waited, and waited, and waited some more.  It was very crowded in the room and yet strangely silent.  None of the carrousels were working.  Finally our "nastro" started rolling and about 30-40 suitcases came through, including one of ours.  And then it stopped, and we waited, and waited, and waited some more.  Again, everything was idle.  After half an hour things got rolling again and we were able to gather our last bag and head out. 

Italy has a charming tradition called "lo sciopero a singhiozzo" or a hiccup strike.  They work, but only part of the time.  Of every hour, maybe 30 minutes is spent on strike.  It's not really enough to bring things to a screeching halt, just enough to drive you crazy!  Fortunately for us, that was the last hiccup of the day and everything else went smoothly.  But thinking about the "hiccups" that I witnessed during this latest trip, I had to admit that ours was pretty minor.  We weren't suffering the loss of a loved one, nor were we having a medical emergency.  We were inconvenienced, and that is the kind of hiccup I can handle. 

Health and happiness to all, my friends.