Being left to their own resources has sparked ingenuity in those stranded far from home. Stories abound of how people have managed to make their way home. Take the Stevens family, on holiday in Spain. De held van de dag – The hero of the day was brother Pol who huurde een busje in Gent – hired a small bus in Ghent and drove 15 hours to pick up the family in Barcelona. I hope they shared the driving on the way back.

Another tale of endurance is told by businessman Philippe, who found himself grounded in Armenia. He managed to get to Moscow, from where he caught a train to Budapest, where his car is! “Veertien uur later hoop ik veilig en wel in België te arriveren – Fourteen hours later, I hope to arrive safe and sound in Belgium.”

Outsiders who predict the demise of this small country should heed how a cross-party delegation of nine kamerleden – MPs dealt with being stranded in Singapore. Five seats were found on a flight to Athens. So how did they decide who should fly? Door loting – By drawing lots? No, in fact, they applied Belgium’s gift to democracy, the D’Hondt system of proportional representation: those kamerleden with the most votes got on the plane.

Of course not everyone is in de wolken – overjoyed (“in the clouds”) at the turn of events. The most unexpectedly unhappy person was the fellow interviewed pottering in his garden in Steenokkerzeel under the empty flight path, complaining that it was unnaturally quiet: “Ik ben dit niet gewoon – I’m not used to this”. His neighbours may have had other thoughts: zij hebben wellicht genoten van de rustige nachten – they have probably been enjoying the quiet nights.

The source of all the commotion is as – ash, which, as any gardener knows, enriches the soil: in de as zitten veel mineralen en spoorelementen – in the ash there are many minerals and trace elements, including koper – copper and ijzer – iron.

All this could not have happened at a better time for trekvogels – migratory birds, which at this time of year are leaving their wintering sites in the south and heading for their broedgebieden – breeding grounds in the north of Europe. Instead of running the usual risk of being sucked into jet engines, hebben zij het luchtruim voor zich alleen – they have the air space all to themselves. So, dare I say, de trekvogels zijn in de wolken.

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