Au revoir

I hate goodbyes, even temporary ones. If I'm with you, our goodbye will tend to go one of two ways: either unnecessarily protracted or (unintentionally) brusque.

Today, I drove Dan, Abi and Hannelie to the airport to fly back to Cape Town for Christmas. We left in good time and had a clear run down, which meant we had quite a bit of time at the airport. We were gently fleeced by Joe's Kitchen for coffees and a bite to eat before we headed back up to the departure gates.

We hung around by this post box for a while. I'm not sure why we gravitated towards it but I'd like to thank Ken Baker for giving this incongruous gift to the airport, thereby providing me with something to lean on while I joked about with the kids.

Eventually, though, it was time for them to "go through", and I stood there waving for a bit, thereby obliging them to turn around every few paces to wave back at me again. Mercifully for them, they soon reached a corner and there was a final wave - with renewed vigour - and then they were gone.

I'd also like to thank Manchester Airport for putting a swift end to my glumness, which they replaced with a feeling of outrage after I found I had to pay £16.50 to park at the airport for two hours and twelve minutes. Maybe they should replace that post box with a statue of Dick Turpin.