A Photo A Day For 6 Months:Day 176 ~ Look Ma, No Valium!

"You wanna fly? You have to give up the shit that ways you down."

~Toni Morrison


Yesterday, when I posted my favorite photographs of October, I found myself wishing that my favorite month had 32 days! LOL. Of course I pretty much wish that anyway, but on a practical note, there was one more October event that I wanted to share, but I knew I wouldn't have the photos edited in time, so I am posting them today. It's of our aerial tour of the San Francisco Bay!

I had been looking forward to the tour for a long time, well, since last June when it became available on Groupon. I have had a lifelong fear flying, which didn't stop me from flying mind you, but I never really enjoyed it. You see, between the ages of 12 and 18 I would routinely experience dreams of airplane crashes. These dreams didn't always end in horrific crashes, sometimes they bordered on cartoonish situations where the plane crashes, and everyone on board was simply sitting at a diner counter eating donuts, or something similar.

There were times, however, when the dreams I had... contained details... which were strikingly similar to real crashes which would take place within a few hours of when I woke up. The first took place on September 25 1978 in San Diego, California, between a single engine Cessna and a PSA commercial airliner. The second dream I had was about the crash of American Airlines Flight 191 which crashed just after takeoff from O'Hare airport in Chicago, on May 25th, 1979. I know in my rational mind that it was coincidence, but I was also of the belief that someone was trying to tell me something, so why not listen. That meant not flying. And I didn't for a long time.

Then in 1992 Alan and I were given 2 free tickets to fly anywhere we wanted. Anywhere! Alan and I thought about it for a long time, and considered many different places, but I knew it was important to Alan to fly to the East Coast to see his family, so for him I loaded up on the Valium, strapped my seat belt on, and grit my teeth for several thousand miles. As flights go, it wasn't the worst ever, in fact I had a lot of funny stories, from the many different legs of the adventure to share. Ask me sometime about the "Muffins Over Illinois" story. A true and cautionary tale! I don't know if it was all the Valium I took, or the 12 cans of coke I drank between San Jose and Columbus Ohio, or if it was the extreme turbulence we experienced over Colorado, whatever it was, by the time I reached Columbus I knew I would never look at banana muffins quite the same again!

LOL.

Lordy, it is SO funny now. But at the time, it was SKY HIGH DRAMA!

Anyway, fast forward to last Tuesday. When I saw the Groupon in June, I knew it would be a wonderful adventure for Alan and I, plus as a photographer, who would rather take pictures than breathe, everything in me said to do it. After all, some folks think the world is going to end on December 21st, and who knows, it just might! Hurricane Sandy scared me on a lot of levels. It would seem the earth is somewhat pissed off! Or maybe it's GOD who is angry! Or maybe it's neither! Maybe its just the natural order of things, I don't know, but it's not hard to believe that everything could just be over in a blink. Blinks can happen for a number of reasons, and as I was saying a couple months ago, I would rather die a bitch than a doormat! Well, lets add to it by saying I would rather die living my life as opposed to running from it.

Okay, Dials... Check. Doohickies Check... Whimmy Diddles Check... We're Good To Go!



Taxiing Down The Runway...



San Mateo Bridge...



Mt. Diablo And Oakland...



San Francisco Skyline, Bay Bridge, Treasure Island And Fog...



Bay Bridge And Treasure Island...



Alcatraz And That Famous San Francisco Fog...



Alcatraz



San Francisco



Embarcadero San Francisco...



Mt. Tamalpias, San Francisco Embarcadero



San Francisco Skyline...



Mt. Diablo And San Francisco...



Mount Tamalpias, And The Golden Gate Bridge...



The Marina Green And Marina District, San Francisco...



Bay Bridge, South Of Market, San Francisco...



San Francisco International Airport...



Palace Of Fine Arts, San Francisco...



Treasure Island/Yerba Buena Island, Bay Bridge...



Autumn In Belmont California...



Mt. San Bruno, South San Francisco, The City Of Industry...





San Mateo County Eastern Side Of 101...



Coming In For A Landing...



And Back On The Ground...



The flight was an hour long, and Pilot Dan couldn't have treated us better! He answered our questions, pointed out special landmarks, and made the flight very enjoyable and fun. By the time we landed, I was already thinking about doing this again next year, if not sooner! It's sort of misleading to say I was afraid to take this flight, because it's not even a little accurate to say so. From the time I purchased the Groupon, I have been looking forward to it, so I don't think I slayed any dragons here, in fact I found out that I actually enjoy flying in this small plane as opposed to flying in a large commercial one. I doubt I will ever fly commercial again, the new regulations for flying is in my opinion ridiculous, but at least I know if I had to, my fears of the past have all been conquered. That's a good feeling!

San Carlos Flight Center, San Carlos, Ca

Happiness!

~Me :)

Today's Link Comes To Us By Way Of  JR!

JR
http://jrclinephotography.blogspot.com/2012/11/apadf6-173.html

A Photo A Day For 6 Months: Day 32~ What Was I Thinking?

"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"

 It's not that we don't have a lot of fun on our vagabond vacations, but when I saw the amazing Groupon offer, I immediately thought about the amazing memory it would make. Like any other marriage, we have had our lean times and times where we did really well financially. The last few years has been a time of HIGHS and LOWS swinging back and forth. Right now are comfortable, so why not jump in and do something different, something for the memory book... right?

 "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