Romantic Times: Houston – The Backside of the Storm

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Blogging from the Hyatt Regency in gorgeous Houston. I can’t explain it, but there’s something familiar about this city, even though I’ve never been here. The next few days will be mostly consumed by the Romantic Times Convention, but I hope to get out and see some of the city, especially since the Hyatt is downtown in the heart of it all.

Yesterday started with a strange twist. The plane left Nashville on time, and the trip is usually about a two-hour flight. The first thing we heard from the captain, however, included a change in the flight plan…straight west and down on the other side of Dallas, in an attempt to avoid the storms moving through Texas.

Storms? Oh, boy…why didn’t I watch the weather that morning…

The detour added some time to the trip, but not as much as when we got to the Houston area and found out that “the airport isn’t accepting aircraft right now because of the weather.” We circled west of the city for almost an hour. I napped.

When I woke, I found myself staring at the backside of the storm. Literally. In front of us appeared this amazing layering of clouds. Popcorn white at the bottom, some of which scattered about under the plane. Tuffs of cloud, dense and poofy. Above that, a thick, dark layer smoothed out from horizon to horizon, a wall heavy with water and reflected light. On top, expansive skyscraper clouds towered into the heavens, tousled and glaringly white.

Finally, the pilots had permission to land, and they headed into the heart of the remaining storm. The plane bucked a bit, but not nearly as much as I’d epected. I felt no fear, for a couple of reasons. One was a odd trust in God. I trust His knowledge of when and where I should die. If this was going to be it; just hoped it would be quick….

The other trust lay with the knowledge of how much stress and strain the airframes of big jets can actually withstand. As long as they are in good mechanical repair, heavy jets can take a great deal more abuse than the FAA allows for passenger carry. Still…many kudos to the Southwest crew on that plane. Fabulous ride.

On the ground safely, I thought a bit more about the perspective we had above and behind the clouds. On the ground, turmoil reigned. On the backside…peace. It’s God’s perspective on our lives, is it not? And, once we’ve been through a few storms, ours as well. What’s important is not just that we’ve survived, but what we do with the peace. With the perspective. Do we help and growth or do we spend our time whining about the aftermath and anticipating the next one.

Enough philosophizing for one morning. I’m off to find food and learn more about personal branding. This afternoon, I get to speak briefly on blending more than one genre into a novel’s plot…in my case inspiration, romance, and suspense. I’m on a panel with some folks who write erotic suspense, and I hope to have time to speak about a friend’s inspirational paranormal…

More later, from Houston.

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