As I was writing this last night, I could hear a really big jet going over us here at Marshmallow Ranch. I pulled out my phone and opened the FlightAware app to see where these folks had been. Where were they going? It was a Galistair Airbus A330-300. It’s a twin-engine wide body jet that can carry between 250-440 passengers! Cost efficient and profitable. These folks were flying out of Pittsburg and heading to Mexico City. They had only been up in the air less than half an hour and were already at about 38,000 feet. The average price of one of these bad boys in 2018 was $262.2 million. Three classes…coach, business, and a First Class that would tempt the best of us to be all bougie like.

We get a lot of big jets going over us. I’m so glad I found this app because Mr. FixIt announces where all these people are heading from time to time. Outside stacking wood? You might find out that heavy roaring overhead may be heading for Istanbul or Australia or London. Maybe they took off from Dayton or Chicago, Atlanta or New York. Or Pittsburg. What takes us three hours or so to drive, took the Galistair around twenty minutes.

The very first time I traveled alone was when I was barely twenty years old. I took a little prop plane out of Parkersburg, flew to Philadelphia, then on to JFK. I had a couple hour layover in New York, then I was gobsmacked when I got to fly in a 747 to London Heathrow. What an absolutely amazing experience! After the previous three flights in progressively larger and larger planes, the 747 felt like a flying football stadium!

I wanted to soak in every minute of that experience. I flew coach, of course. But it felt like a royal palace to me. There was a real meal served…on china with real silverware. I couldn’t imagine how nice First Class must have been! There was a musician a couple of rows up in front of me. We all noticed he boarded with his guitar. Somewhere over Newfoundland, he took the guitar out as they dimmed the cabin lights and handed out pillows and blankets. Then this magic man played soft, dreamy music and the passengers settled in for an impromptu lullaby.

I awoke somewhere around 4:00 in the morning. If you listened carefully, you could hear a whispered voice here and there, murmuring to their seat mate. I quietly lifted the window shade and caught my breath. In the midst of the darkness, a tiny fleck of light had appeared. The further east we flew, the brighter it got. Then, that light started to spread in either direction till there was a golden band of light with dark purple and blue bands above and below. 

And, when the sun itself peeked over the horizon, well…all I can say it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen in my unworldly life. I was dumbstruck. How often do we get to see moments that truly take our breath away? How many times are we amazed by this world we live in? When you have been at death’s door…when you have watched your spouse die before your eyes…you shut down. Then, when you begin to wake up, you never see the world the same way. You see beauty in everything. It is magical when the colors come back in your world.

I’m not sure when I’ll get to fly again…or even if I want to. But those memories take me along for the ride whenever I wish and I can live my life all over again…albeit vicariously.

✈️

“If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭139‬:‭9‬-‭10‬ ‭NLT‬‬