Let's Talk About Airplanes for a Moment....

The worst thing I ever did was rearrange the furniture in my office. Now I have a full frontal, mid level view out of these over-sized windows and I find myself spending large portions of the day....Just. Staring. Not much work gets done during these not so brief interludes in my day. Check out the view. Not too shabby, huh? The sky is what really gets me.

Below, I watch the cars maneuver the intersection. I witnessed the ground-up construction of that apartment complex to the right. Other times, I watch the lunch crowd meandering the streets. Above, I enjoy watching the billowing clouds. I delight in watching storms roll in and I'm even pacified by the sound of thunder and rain against this window. I hears sounds of horns honking, car alarms, jack hammers, etc. But, of my favorite  peering out of my office window activities, none is more fascinating than watching a single airplane drift through the sky. You wanna know why I love watching airplanes? Because the possibilities are endless. 

Have you ever taken the time to really think about how magnificent airplanes really are? A plane carries hundreds of people in the air, at incredible rates of speed, to destinations thousands of miles away in a matter of hours. Think about that....really let that settle in. 

Let's have a little math problem, shall we? Here are some slightly irrelevant facts but...it helps paint the picture. A Boeing 787 Dreamliner can seat up to 335 passengers. Its top speed is 593 mph (I got my car up to 120 mph one time....is that close or nah?). Now, let's pick a destination....I'm thinking Rio de Janeiro because I love that place. Rio is 5,021 miles from Houston. At its top speed, a Dreamliner can get you to Rio in 8 hours and 57 mins. That's a little over the amount of time most of us spend sitting behind a desk at work! Can you imagine?? One single work day's worth of time and you can be in paradise!!! 

It's interesting though, I've never been a huge fan of flying. Planes can be uncomfortable and stuffy, you can get stuck in the middle seat between two fat guys, you can have the misfortune of being assigned the seat by the lavatories or the seat in the exit row that doesn't recline, the seat next to the lady with the big hips that ooze out of her seat and into yours and make the whole left side of your body hot for the entire 3 and a half hour flight, and a host of other bad things. But....knowing that on the other end of that plane ride is some new and exciting adventure, I deliberately and anxiously board the flight.

That sentiment is great but, 94.7% of the time, I'm actually wondering where that plane has been or is going....From where I'm sitting, there is an airport both to the north and south of me. Literally, the possibilities are ENDLESS. But wait.....I don't think you feel me....the planes I see could truly be going or coming from anywhere. The options of destinations or points of departure are indeterminate, countless, boundless, ceaseless (I could go on but I think you get it now) and that provokes me....but in a good way and boy, does my mind wander. 

Yesterday, I noted 6 planes zoom past my humble view. I imagined the first one was flying to Pittsburgh. The second one was flying to London but would ultimately land in Paris. The third plane's final destination was Reykjavik, Iceland. Plane number 4....Columbus, Ohio. Plane 5 was heading to Vegas with a stop over in San Diego. Finally, plane 6 was carrying its passengers to Zurich and I imagined I was on it. Actually, I imagined that the plane hoovered over my building and dropped down a ladder for me and when I scurried upwards onto the plane and into the cabin, the passengers cheered, the flight attendant handed me a chilled glass of champagne and the pilot pinned wings on the lapel of my jacket but....I digress. 

That's enough for today. Everyone enjoy the weekend!

**There's no where to go but everywhere.....so get going! ~ The Green-Eyed Venuist