A long days journey

We left Mitchell Field in the dark. As day break approached, the clouds in the east were pink and black. After two minutes in flight it was day break. Another 2 minutes the sun was seconds from the horizon. As the sun entered our view it was as if we could see molten lava flowing from the sun with our bare eye. The horizon was ablaze with red, gold and pink in brilliant tones. Another 3 seconds the sun was fully and magnificently revealed. Within another minute it was its usual yellow self. We landed in Atlanta on time and hurried to the next gate. We were there with time to spare and as boarding time was nearing we got a 30 minute delay. That passed and we boarded. After 2 hours into a 3 hour flight our pilot announced we had turned back to Atlanta and would be arriving a 3:30. The area surrounding the San Salvador airport was engulfed in fire. It’s the harvest of the sugar cane which is preceded by burning the fields. Cane is grown between the airport and the ocean. With 45 mile an hour winds blowing, this weekend the fire did not stop at the end of the fields but continued to burn everything in its path towards the airport. The airport closed to provide total support to protect the service buildings essential for servicing the airport. It was also unsafe for take-off or landing with heavy ash and poor visibility. We sat in Atlanta for another three hours. Delta provided regular updates and finally we reboarded to resume the journey. It was night and a very long flight. Nearing San Salvador we could see fires in the distance. As we landed the fires were at the edge of the runway, flames flaring 100s of feet into the air. We weren’t advised in advance and many in the plane were alarmed by the scene. The fire continued more than half the distance of our taxi followed by the darkened earth and smoldering embers from the area of the service building. It was now 11:00. Our driver waited 10 hours for us to arrive. We called him twice from Atlanta with updates and we were glad to be greeted by a friendly welcoming face. The temperature was 79. It felt really good. The highway to Usulután was empty. At night only a couple of sugar cane trucks and dogs sat on the highway. We made it to Usulután in record time. Everything in the city was closed and dark including our hotel. We pulled up to gate; a guard appeared and by the grace of God he opened it for us. He took us into the lobby, gave us a room key and said “check in tomorrow morning”. We needed to get up early for our first meeting with the principal and directors of the school of Canton Guadalupe. We had done much planning, budgeting and preparing for this important conversation to begin an important improvement project. We were eager to see how it would unfold. David y Nancy