It seemed weird as I left home this morning, when it was minus 14 degrees Celsius, that in less than 15 hours I would be in the warmth of the Caribbean. Because of the freezing conditions, I was concerned that my flight to London would be delayed, thus missing my connecting flight to New York. But all went smoothly. I even had a comfortable three hours at JFK airport to catch up on emails and the like before my final flight down to Cancun in Mexico. I was happy to see a chanukiah on welcome desk at American Airlines premium lounge. This was a lovely reminder that today is the third day of Chanukah.
It’s my first visit to the Yucatán Peninsular, so I look forward to seeing what it’s like. I have arrived at 10pm so the darkness prevents me from seeing much. I’ve checked in to the Hilton and have a balcony twice the size of my room, overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. I can hear the ocean and will go nicely to sleep with the windows open.
Tomorrow I will collect my media pass for the United Nations climate summit which I am attending all of next week. The sad news of Israel’s devastating forest fires on the hills surrounding Haifa, which are still burning at the time of writing, are particularly ironic given the topic of the talks that I am attending. Climate change is being increasingly blamed as the cause of many such forest fires. The number of such natural catastrophes in the world has increased exponentially in recent years as global warming kicks in.
Grandpa Jonathan
Cancun, Mexico
