Monday, February 1, 2010

Flight School














I flew on propellered planes, propjets, jet-jets, Boeing Stratocruisers, 707, 727s, 747s, Airbuses, DC whatever’s and everyone of them lifted me off of the ground, lifted my spirits and delivered me to exotic lands, to fascinating ports of call or transported me to my children and grand children and then, took me home.  Not always in the blink of an eye, not always in a hop, skip and a jump and not always well within my comfort zone.  Up, safely and on the ground safely – always.

An atlas, a passport, a camera and an airplane flight are indispensible tools of the trade, my craft and profession.  They are required to stimulate my senses and to provoke me into creative acts.  They are a means to assuage my curiosity and to learn something previously not known.  They enable me to fill my arms with my family, with my dearest friends and with a collectable now and then.

“Up, Up and Away!” is where it began.  This was followed by a collection (photographs and models) of WWII fighter planes built by Boeing, Grumman, Northrop, Lockheed, et al, that filled the walls of my childhood room.  I sent for pictures from the Hasselblad Camera Company of moonwalkers, of the ships of space exploration and of NASA launches.

I like in-flight movies.  I like the duty-frees.  I like getting there before I took off.

And I like experiencing what cannot be seen from the club chair in my living room. 

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