We expected to be having lunch in a pub in Galway, Ireland today, but the volcano that closed Europe keeps our family home.

By Saturday, we knew our Sunday night flight wouldn't happen: We spent the weekend diverting our disappointment into the business of undoing our plans.

Our three generations gathered to eat, drink and play cards with the speakerphone on hold on the table, talking dark humor over truly bad music occasionally interrupted by "Your call is very important to us..." Maybe our Irish ancestors were telling us not to go back, there's a reason they left.

To the Indian workforce of online booking agent Expedia, "volcano ash" was the magical phrase that wiped out cancellation fees and deposits. Irish airline Aer Lingus was lovely, rebooking our flights in June at the offseason rates we had already paid.

I am off work today, unpacking and restocking our fridge. We are not stranded, like so many others, in an airport far from home. June will be warmer in Ireland, and we'll have a couple of months more to hunt down elusive Irish ancestors before we announce ourselves to newfound relatives as the American cousins they didn't know they had. School will be out, and our trip can be longer.

But we are all a little bit sick, our bodies taking the brunt of the impact of our suddenly shattered plans.

Marco Fulle
Eyjafjallajökull stratovolcano complex: lightning caused by electrical discharge within the ash column.

Live - Travel Updates at Irish Radio/TV site RTE.

Ash clouds threaten air traffic, a huge thread at the Professional Pilots Rumour Network.

Flightradar24.com shows live aircraft traffic in the airspace above Europe.

The UK National Weather Service's Icelandic Volcano Blog.

Originally published at 6:58 a.m. Updated with T-shirt.