Flying Again

The desire to fly is an idea handed down to us by our ancestors who,
in their grueling travels across trackless lands in prehistoric times,
looked enviously on the birds soaring freely through space,
at full speed, above all obstacles, on the infinite highway of the air.
~Wilbur Wright

I couldn´t leave the topic of flight go with just one post.....It´s way to intricate and expanse to be covered with one strike! Needless to say that the explanation of "lift" and the "why" planes fly is complex beyond measure and somewhat outside of my realm of expertise:an area I would rather leave to the experts!

No, outside of my romantic notions of flying biplanes across the plains of Africa, planes are very much a part of my family life. My husband, who works for an airline, assures that the bellies of the aircraft are packed with all shapes and sizes of cargo that travels right underneath the passengers unbeknownst to them.

While the passengers are on their way to exotic destinations to fulfill the vacations of their dreams or on business travels to snatch the deals of their lives..cargo is being transported from here to there to provide the necessary staples of common life every day and we don´t even give it a thought. You would be amazed at "what" is being transported every day under your very nose...or feet or body...whatever and just how much work it takes to organize such transport down to the very last detail.

Outside of my husband´s profession, airplanes and airports represent something deeper.... and that is the possibility to be "incognito" just another "face" in the crowd. At the aiport, every person, passport and country is valid and it doesn´t matter who you are or where your from... if you have a ticket... you can fly! The airport provides a place of "sanctuary" for the person whose parents are from one culture, who grow up in another country and often then move again to another country..... commonly known as the "Third Cultured Kid." My husband is one, my kids are and well I am too to a certain degree one myself!

The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one's own country as a foreign land. ~G.K. Chestert

So airports and planes provide for us a place to be "just like the rest." A place where we don´t stand out and a place where the issue of citizenship isn't the bottom line for establishing relationships!

What you've done becomes the judge of what you're going to do
- especially in other people's minds.
When you're traveling, you are what you are right there and then.
People don't have your past to hold against you.
No yesterdays on the road.
~William Least Heat Moon, Blue Highways

So as you can see.... planes are an interesting & inseparable part of our build up....and maybe that´s why I love them so much!