Friday, January 12

Rooftop pool, Star Metro, 11:45
I woke this morning to the sound of Irma saying, “Happy Aurora Death Day”. She died four years ago today. I suppose that the fact that Irma can say that, and I can give a weak grin in response, shows how far we have travelled in those four years. We certainly haven’t forgotten her, or “got used” to her absence, but we have gained a certain purchase on our changed situation.
We have, as they say, moved on.
We started the day with a long breakfast in the hotel buffet. I had an entirely different one from yesterday.
Afterwards Naa and I went up to the pool while Irma stayed in the room to do “a little packing”. She eventually joined us just as we felt sunstroke coming over the horizon.
Planes fly over the hotel every few minutes and I try to get a perfect shot. I decide to stop trying to photograph them flying low over the cranes on the nearby roofs when I notice a red and black beachball floating in the pool. It doesn’t move as fast, and the colours and patterns seem marginally more interesting than the blurry planes I have succeeded in capturing.
FMission accomplished, I will go downstairs to shower. The others will join me fifteen minutes later and we will finish getting everything ready for our departure.
At 14:30 we will get a cab to the airport where, once again, everything will proceed smoothly. We will buy a gold bottle of sparkling wine, for no good reason at all, and head for the lounge.
At 17:40 we will take off. At 18:54 Irma and I will take sparkling wine while Naa grabs a piccolo of red.
The flight will pass uneventfully.
We will get home, do some but not all of the unpacking, and get to bed about 2:00 Helsinki time.