Plane Talk

All hesitance to leave home has vanished by sitting on this flight; I wish I could express just how the sky feels, because it’s more than just seeing it. You feel it. Waiting for takeoff, I could see the Manhattan skyline outside my window, breaking the horizon line of palest blue that deepened as your eyes traveled skyward like one of those tie-dyed tee shirts you had when you were younger. Or still have now.

The man sitting in front of me almost had a heart attack when the personal televisions weren’t turned on as soon as we boarded. I rolled my eyes and lamented the vapidity of people until I inched up in my seat a few minutes later to see what he was so eager to watch. Yes, the Patriots game. Every television visible from my seat being operated by a guy is tuned in. There are a few women watching as well, but generally speaking. I’m surrounded by the hum of play-by-plays and shrilly whistles. Oh, football.

But back to the sky. It’s as if the world below us is underwater, submerged beneath a sea transparent like breath on a bitterly cold day, which we simply sail upon level with the floating clouds. I imagine this is what Atlantis would look like from above water. It’s surreal.

We’re at a fairly low altitude because the distance isn’t terribly far (as far as flights go, at least), so the ground is still perfectly visible. About five minutes ago, the topography made a clean break from earthy brown to powdery white. Eesh. The moon is just above the horizon, its circle blurred slightly towards the left . . . there’ll be a full moon within days. Did you read Highlights magazine when you were in elementary school? The only thing I remember reading in it was that you could always tell whether the moon was waxing or waning based on what side of the moon was dark. Imagine a vertical line where the moon’s outline is blurred, and if it creates a lowercase ‘b,’ it’s a ‘baby’ moon and is waxing. A lowercase ‘d,’ on the other hand, represents a ‘dying’ moon and is waning. So there’s your first astronomy lesson from a future student of the stars.

The flight attendant is telling me to power down; Geneseo, I’m almost there.