New Year’s Resolutions, Version 1.0 – here goes nothing (wink-wink)
Last year I flew to Indiana twice. One time the travel was bumpy. The other time it was not.
Interestingly, the first trip went smoothly, serenely between the plane there and the plane ride back…
Conversely, the second trip’s air miles were smooth, while the time with family and friends was fraught. Oh, well. Different strokes with different folks (wink)
From the ground, it’s easy to assume that the sky is just Earth’s wallpaper – a pretty background to our lives that shifts mildly but rarely bothers us. It’s a comforting notion that is rapidly unmasked when the plane’s captain warns everyone to fasten their seat belts and the flight attendants vanish to buckle up. No drinks and pretzels for you!
Turbulence. OMG. the sudden juddering and bumps were frightening and uncomfortable – a reminder that our mostly invisible atmosphere is in motion all of the time, whether we see it or not. The air is just there.
A bad thing about turbulence the loss of control that we humans favor. It’s fickle and descends upon your life raft in the sky without warning…
Then you look out the window of the plane – was that lightening I spied amidst the gray-upon-gray, roiling clouds.
Intellectually, I know there’s no danger to the aircraft. All modern planes are designed to flex and easily accommodate occasional swing and sways and bumps.
But, but, but a sudden drop of fifty or more feet feels like an elevator in free fall – or worse.
I know, I know. Our atmosphere is almost never still – and if it, one may be in the eye of a hurricane, cyclone, or tornado. Not. Good. Places. To Be.
Gulp. So here’s my first resolution of 2020. I promise to pray and recall what a flight attendant once told me: Know that pilots love turbulence! Why? Because they get to fly!
Otherwise, they rely on autopilot and what’s the fun in that?!
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