"There are only two emotions in a plane: boredom and terror."
~Orson Welles
Hmmm... It seemed like a good idea at the time. And I am pretty sure it will turn out, if not just fine, then certainly a day to remember, but what I am curious about as I sit here writing this is... at what point will the terror officially hit? Sorry, I know I am being a bit cryptic here, but you see I did something the other day completely against my usual instinct... I purchased a Groupon for a 1hr San Francisco Bay tour that is... hold onto your hats... in a single engine Cessna!
The deal was really good. Super good. It was 50% off the usual price, which means it was exactly in our budget for our wedding anniversary. Each year Alan takes the month of October off, and we usually do some small "staycation" types of things. We go up to Apple Hill. We take a ride down the coast to Santa Barbara and stop for chocolate in Solvang. We visit museums and zoos, we go to movies and pumpkin patches, and no matter what we usually have a really good time. Most years, we have accidentally come across celebrities. No joke. The first one we met was Joe Montana. The last one we came across was the Reverend Jessie Jackson.
"The air up there in the clouds is very pure and fine, bracing and delicious. And why shouldn't it be? - it is the same the angels breathe."
~Mark Twain, "Roughing It"
"Lovers of air travel find it exhilarating to hang poised between the illusion of immortality and the fact of death."
~Alexander Chase, "Perspectives," 1966
You have NO idea how different this is for me. Alan isn't afraid of much, if anything. I have had a lifelong fear of FLYING. Yep, that's right. I purchased a GROUPON for a 1 hour trip around the bay in a small... really small... single engine... 4 seat... airplane! Why didn't I sign up to box a kangaroo while I was at it? LOL. Fret. So, what was I thinking?
I guess I was considering that life is short. I have been afraid of flying since I was a child. But don't get me wrong, I have flown before, dispute that fear, but still the fear remains. 9/11 didn't help curb my fears, but it did make me resolute that if I found myself in the company of terrorists, I wasn't going to go down without a fight. A BIG ONE. If death is imminent, then what do I have to lose? Their flesh will be under my fingernails before I die.
"I feel about airplanes the way I feel about diets. It
seems to me that they are wonderful things for other people to go on."
~Jean
Kerr, "Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall," The Snake Has All the Lines,
1958
Maybe its that my fear has moved to a new reality. While I don't see myself flying commercial anymore, which has more to do with TSA policies than terrorists, I don't think there is anything wrong with experiencing something different, particularly if it helps me face an unreasonable fear, and get another piece of my well being back. So, come this fall, I will be up in the air, high above the ground snapping photos I would never have the chance to get otherwise. I think when all is said and done, I will be stepping off the plane wondering why the hour went by so quickly, or perhaps wondering how an hour could have seemed like forever! LOL
"You haven't seen a tree until you've seen its shadow from the sky."
~Amelia Earhart
I wonder which it will be? Either way I plan to write down on a piece of paper my fears. What I imagine what it will be like, then when I actually experience the flight. I will realize that my idea of the trip and the actuality of the trip are very different things. Either way, I will have something to remember for a long time. God help Alan! LOL.
~Me :)
Note: The view of San Francisco you see here, is from the top of Mount Tamalpias, in Marin County.
Now that you have visited me, please go see my pal JR. He is so awesome. His photography always inspires me, and brightens my day, he really has a gift for photography.
JR
http://jrclinephotography.blogspot.com/2012/06/apadf6-31.html
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