Tuesday, July 12, 2011

The Rewards of the Sky

Airline travel, the way it can so quickly and efficiently shuttle groups of people from one place on earth to another, is a pretty great thing. It can also be pretty boring.

I realized that three hours into my seven-hour journey from Baltimore to San Jose this morning. I looked around at the other people around me, some napping-others reading, and wished I had the focus they had while speeding along above the earth. Too many things distract me on a plane. If it's not the strange noises of the engine it's the bumps and dips that come out of nowhere. Sleep is difficult and reading more than a page or two in the span of 15 minutes is near impossible.

Of course there is always the reward of arriving at the destination. I stepped out into a glorious day in San Jose around noon this morning. The temperature hovered around 68 degrees and there wasn't a hint of humidity in the air. The azure sky was clear as far as the eye could see. It was a welcome change from the heat and humidity I left on the east coast. Three hours after my plane touched down I was enjoying the comforts of the hotel pool, my eyes squinting as they looked past the tall palm tree towards the sun. The boring plane ride pretty much left my head as soon as I stretched into a back float and felt the cool water lap up around my body.

3 comments:

  1. the most pleasant of rewards, right? You set this up well, and surprised me with the ending.

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  2. You totally captured my feelings of a long plane trip. Isn't it great when time zones work for you giving you extra hours? Enjoy your break from the heat and humidity!

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  3. I enjoyed seeing your view of time spent in the air! I'm a plane-sleeper, myself. But I definitely would prefer the pool to the plane!

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