by Dan Hiland

Created on: May 13, 2009

Vacationing North, Katrina to the South

Wednesday, August 24

After farming out our guinea pig to the neighbors, and handing off rabbit and cat- feeding assignments to others, we blasted off at 6:30 am from NW Oregon, on a Delta flight to Florida.

Flying is not my favorite thing to do, so I was apprehensive about going up in the air.

As the plane left the runway and climbed into the sky, I clenched my teeth and watched the kids. They had never flown before. Connor thought it was fun, and the girls looked slightly amazed. And while Carol looked a little nervous, I was the only one who was truly scared. After a couple hours and a few prayers, I settled down and resigned myself to my fate.

We arrived at Salt Lake 1 hours later, and soon were on our way again, me hating the takeoff, the kids continuing to bask in the novelty of modern flight.

Unable to nap for long, due to a slight case of nerves and an uncomfortable seat, I opted for a book. In the mood for something dark and mysterious I chose "The Sundial" by Shirley Jackson. I'd read it years before but wanted to give it a second look- and at first it was an interesting read, relating the story of a group of people in a mansion who discover (by way of a vision), that the world will end soon, and that they must all prepare if they are to be spared.

It's funny how you can read a novel, then come back to it months or years later, and get something different out of it, noticing things that passed you by the first time around. That was the way with this story. Unfortunately, what I noticed this time around was how worldly and lecherous the characters were. The book kept returning to hedonistic and even pagan themes in its effort to describe character motivation.

As I moved to the end of the book, I found myself at first skipping sentences, then paragraphs, and in one case a whole chapter- not a good sign. Upon reaching the end of the tome, I vowed to never read it again- though I may hang onto it for future study of Jackson's formidable powers of description.

Nearing Tampa, we could see the coastline and geography very well. At the time we had no idea that within two or three days, the view down around the Gulf Coast would be changed forever by hurricane Katrina, one of the worst to ever hit the United States.

After landing, I felt a blast of hot air as I walked out the plane's exit door, wondering why the heat was on in the cockpit. Though the air-conditioned breeze quickly returned, I realized that

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