if clouds are the dust of HIS feet

then He was so close to me today - planes couldn't even leave the ground. Visibility clashes with the invisible!! An unnamed Chinaman knocked on my door shortly after I had resigned myself to a day of napping - but NO ENGLISH. He came in, used the phone and called Mr. T... and WHAT would have transpired weather hazards and all if this year J and D didn't have a Airline Vice President in their class???

Provision abounds in the midst of fog, confusion, language barriers and delays. Feeling favored in spite of it all. What happened...
NO BIG LUGGAGE would make it on the train - only the few things I could snag in the rush to get to the train station.

Drove typical Asian way - make a way - form your own traffic rules and get there any way you can. I got to the station (and some of you wonder why I have such a phobia about others driving) and my escort tried desperately to find someplace to drop me off - VIP lounge (yes, Lord this will do nice) NO the workers were having none of that - I only had the "hard seat" ticket (and yes that means it is going to be a HARD train ride for 7 1/2 hours)

After several trips back and forth across the depot I was escorted to a lounge for which a mere $1.50 allowed me to sit in the smoke filled comfort of a rattan chair, Chinese soap opera for entertainment, noodle slurppers for company. I pulled out my handy DELL crossword puzzle book to amuse myself for the next 2 1/2 hours before my train departure.

A young man interupted me with a desire to speak English and practice his skills. It made the time pass faster than pushing a pencil and he assured me that I'd make my train - no problem. His train left earlier than the Jinan express - so.. the waitress escorted me down through the hordes and I do mean hordes of people.

Similar trains to the Russian ones I've experienced but negotiating through the crowds trying to find my "hard seat #82" claiming one that was already taken.

It is CROWDED little leg room SMOKEY 90% men - 100% Chinese and you can guess the looks a single white woman travelling by train is getting!!

A young man sitting in my seat compartment of 6 did speak a little English - enough to tell me he was getting off in Jinan. He looked as if he would like to say more but his confidence failed us both.

Rich Mullins sings me into melancholy, the fog surrounds me and I roll, moving foward to the the place of my arrival... somewhere at the other end of the tracks