Airport arrivals
I have written before about the romance and magic of the airport; the endless possibilities of going into the terminal building and emerging a few hours later in another city; another country; another continent.It is different when you go to the airport to pick someone up; into arrivals. There's a different excitement at that end of the building; less a world of possibilities and more a world of reunions, reconnections, resumptions. It is no less special; no less heart stopping; no less breathless.I was at Liverpool airport today - it will always be Speke to me, not John Lennon, not above us only sky. I was meeting my brother-in-law (one of my brothers-in-law) following the short hop from the north of Ireland. I was a little early - what a surprise - coming straight from S&A after battling in the Saturday medal. I played decently today - the new putter and wedges are proving their worth. It is hard to complain about the score when you make two triple bogeys!I waited for 20 minutes or so in the arrivals hall - I love the language of the airport, even the pompous language like "hall". I observed two things that may not be unique to Liverpool or this part of the country but we are certainly good at accentuating them. The first is the "I'm going to wring every last drop out of my holiday" look. You know it as soon as you see it; sunglasses; very brown; under-dressed (often looking like you should still be by the pool not in the 'pool); bags of duty free, clinking away with each step with the oversized luggage. The second is the emotional reunion. This is the staple of all airports but there was something warm and moving about the squeezes; the clasped hands; the "great to see you, Mum".Then there was me and Brian. No holiday look; no emotional reunion; just a big smile and a big hug. We had the drive home to chat; to catch up before we unleashed Miss J on her godfather. It might have been a short flight and routine travel but it is always special to have an Anglo-Irish get together within our family.As readers of this blog will know, I have become prone to melancholy; some fascination with loss and the feelings we associate with it. So, it is always good to stand at the other of the spectrum; to end the day with smiles on faces; to end the day with more than you started.#ben2b40