Nathan home
We were up well before dawn (enjoying a great view of Venus as the morning star and Orion high to the South while I was packing the car) and off to Brize Norton air base to collect Nathan from his RAF flight back from the Falklands.
A friendly civilian security officer photographed us, checked id and issued passes before a soldier with a very big gun waved us in. Military bases have their own strange and special ambience. Brize Norton has a proper (but small) terminal, but without any advertising and all painted in drab military colours. There were signs insisting that those in uniform should wear hats and “pay compliments” or face a large fine. Inside were a mixture of service personnel, girlfriends and families waiting for people from the flight, which had arrived early. We were supposed to hand in our passes, but I had gone out of the base before we spotted the letterbox we were supposed to put them in.
Nathan was soon there and we went up to Chipping Norton for breakfast with Trish’s brother, his wife and the girls.
He looks very well, though tired and jet lagged after a 19-hour flight.