Well, it seems an approaching comet is not the only ominous sign in the sky at the moment.
I happened to look up at the sky as my son and I were out walking in the fields around my village yesterday afternoon. Normally the sky above my settlement looks something like this:
I happened to look up at the sky as my son and I were out walking in the fields around my village yesterday afternoon. Normally the sky above my settlement looks something like this:
Though the surface vehicle traffic around my rural settlement is rather light, the airplane traffic above has always been busy. Vienna to the west is a mere 80 kilometers away; Bratislava to the north, about 50; and Budapest to the east, 200. Those three cities probably host a fair share of the air traffic that zoomed above my village on a daily basis, but I imagine most of the planes and trails headed to even more distant destinations.
In any case, as I was walking in the bright sunshine with my little boy, I looked up at the sky and noticed that it was very similar to this:
In any case, as I was walking in the bright sunshine with my little boy, I looked up at the sky and noticed that it was very similar to this:
An untarnished, azure blue ceiling decked with puffy clouds and a brilliant, shining sun. No contrails or vapor trails anywhere. Not one. This made me pause for a moment. I considered a possibility - perhaps atmospheric conditions were not conducive to the formation of lasting contrails.
As I thought about this, I looked back above me to see if I could spot any airplanes. Before the crisis and lockdown, you could easily observe at least a half-dozen or more planes streaking through the sky at any given time. Sometimes the number got as high as fifteen or more, but yesterday I saw only two. Even more interesting, none came to take their places once those two planes had vanished from view.
For the first time in my living memory, the sky above me was free of planes; and it remained that way for the rest of our walk, which was about a half-an-hour or so.
I'm not pretending to reveal a great discovery here. All I am doing is pointing out the obvious. In our current lockdown, reduced air traffic, the utter collapse of the tourism and travel industry, and all the rest of it is to be expected. The media has run many reports about all of this on television and in the papers. I myself knew this would be an immediate consequence of the worldwide lockdown - but seeing the unmarred blue sky yesterday really helped me put it all into perspective personally.
The global economy has fallen off a cliff. Anyone who makes any sort of case for an expected v-shaped recovery in a few weeks time is either utterly deluded, horribly corrupted, or irredeemably dishonest (or a combination of all of the above)!
As far as the global economy is concerned, blue skies are now a sign of impending doom.
Ironically enough, within this context the song Blue Skies takes on a new and rather unexpected dimension.
As I thought about this, I looked back above me to see if I could spot any airplanes. Before the crisis and lockdown, you could easily observe at least a half-dozen or more planes streaking through the sky at any given time. Sometimes the number got as high as fifteen or more, but yesterday I saw only two. Even more interesting, none came to take their places once those two planes had vanished from view.
For the first time in my living memory, the sky above me was free of planes; and it remained that way for the rest of our walk, which was about a half-an-hour or so.
I'm not pretending to reveal a great discovery here. All I am doing is pointing out the obvious. In our current lockdown, reduced air traffic, the utter collapse of the tourism and travel industry, and all the rest of it is to be expected. The media has run many reports about all of this on television and in the papers. I myself knew this would be an immediate consequence of the worldwide lockdown - but seeing the unmarred blue sky yesterday really helped me put it all into perspective personally.
The global economy has fallen off a cliff. Anyone who makes any sort of case for an expected v-shaped recovery in a few weeks time is either utterly deluded, horribly corrupted, or irredeemably dishonest (or a combination of all of the above)!
As far as the global economy is concerned, blue skies are now a sign of impending doom.
Ironically enough, within this context the song Blue Skies takes on a new and rather unexpected dimension.
Blue skies smilin' at me
Nothin' but blue skies do I see
Bluebirds singin' a song
Nothin' but blue skies from now on
I never saw the sun shinin' so bright
Never saw things goin' so right
Noticing the days hurrying by
When you're in love, my how they fly by
Blue days, all of them gone
Nothin' but blue skies from now on
Blue skies smilin' at me
Nothin' but blue skies do I see
Blue days all of them gone
Nothin' but blue skies from now on
Blue skies smilin' at me
Nothin'…
Nothin' but blue skies do I see
Bluebirds singin' a song
Nothin' but blue skies from now on
I never saw the sun shinin' so bright
Never saw things goin' so right
Noticing the days hurrying by
When you're in love, my how they fly by
Blue days, all of them gone
Nothin' but blue skies from now on
Blue skies smilin' at me
Nothin' but blue skies do I see
Blue days all of them gone
Nothin' but blue skies from now on
Blue skies smilin' at me
Nothin'…
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