1.10.09





174
Glancing back to photos from this time i looked poetic.

It certain chapters of my life it has helped me to turn the page by exiting the country. i do love packing up + leaving. There isn’t a better remedy than seeing my puny life on the other side of the world to put things into perspective. Long distance vision will anchor on what is amuck.



i broke the bit this time by going to Central America. First leg of the trip included a white knuckle flight from San Francisco to New Orleans. The pilot announced that we were in the eye of the storm + would he turn the plane around + have another try at heading it off. The pilgrims were getting drunk in their seats w/ the complimented hospitality that says give ’em free booze + they won’t realize what's happening. Every time the plane pitched + hawed the clients whooped yah-hoo as though they were riding the most exciting roller coaster EVER. In sober distraught my silent mantra went on uninterrupted. We are all going to die.

For me, air travel is too close to astral flight. i spin out easily, so i ground myself at the first feeling of deliverance. When sentenced to a mandatory air transit i  usually end up thinking, The pilot is going extremely too fast!

No dare devil me in the sky at this time or ever.

i have thought, though, being a trapeze artist would be a real kick. It would be fun to wake up one morning + be on a flying team. But i’m certainly not willing to train for years + years to be able to do it.

175
Layover in the Nicaraguan wilderness.

We were waiting for the six seater to drift over the hills + collect the next group to be flown into Costa Rica. Fuselage lined both sides of the rough short rural landing strip. i remember looking hard + imagining that THAT piece of metal was still smoking! We were several people w/ diverse accents. Someone casually mentioned the most beautiful beach in the world. Then each in turn told of their sanctuary. Very specific places, on the other side of the world, on the fifty-five degree parallel, south of Bombay, second sand arch on the left. People pulled out paper pads + took down obscure directions to hideaways as though they were going to travel there next week. The scene had all the flavor of a group of Dead Heads scribbling down concert notes.

Travel is a bug that, once bitten, becomes an addiction.

from -Metta / Loving-Kindness illuminated

29 comments:

  1. A sticky note on the wing? Oh my...it probably said something like "Tighten these screws before take-off!" Yikes!

    ReplyDelete
  2. you sound like you have a great deal of fun travelling. wonderful drawing of the plane too.

    ReplyDelete
  3. the sticky note on the wing is a bit sketchy! travel is an intoxication isnt it...but for me it is always great to return home.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great post. Also concerned about that sticky note. Yikes!

    The bug is one I have yet to be bitten by. Which is good, cause I can't afford to scratch that itch!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great description of a drunken uproar. Reminds me of a flight I took once to Martinique....

    ReplyDelete
  6. Nice re-assuring mantra ya had there~~OY! No longer will I fly!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I know that addiction...I've got it!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Betsy, That's what I was afraid of...

    AngelMay, Sounds like a story I'd like to hear.

    Subby, I KNOW you are harder to scare than that!


    Thanks for visiting!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Aw shucks! You could see right thro' that one, right?

    ReplyDelete
  10. I was bitten by that bug in childhood and have it bad to this day...I too have seen strange stickies where they did not belong and once saw an engine fire from my window seat.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Flying is hard enough without experiencing extra turbulence.

    I think the post it was a note from Margo Channing:

    "Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night!"

    ReplyDelete
  12. I laughed so much during this post. I think you need a new mantra for flying though, "we're all going to die," is not a good thing to be putting out there.

    I feel the same way about learning to play the piano as you feel about the trapeze. And a group of "Dead Heads taking down concert notes?" Priceless. You must have been there back in the day.

    ReplyDelete
  13. i've never been comfortable flying...but not really afraid either. After landing i let out a deep breath and wonder how long i'd been holding it!

    ..and thank Heaven's for Dramamine.

    ReplyDelete
  14. e, Yikes!

    Willow, She was right....

    Ronda, Yes, those Dead Heads were/are unmistakable. You remember the note taking thingy?

    tom, Yes, that's a good legal why of knocking yourself out.

    Thanks all.

    ReplyDelete
  15. It is an addiction. An expensive one at that. I share your dislike of planes but they are a necessary evil. "Six seater" that would have me in a spin!

    ReplyDelete
  16. unfortunately [or fortunately, from my perspective] i was born under the sign that - if you try and fence it in - won't even call you from the airport .
    on the bright side, it means planting a lot of trees in an effort to redeem myself

    ReplyDelete
  17. I like a road trip, myself! No planes for this guy!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Definitely have the addiction. At least six flights this year. And more on the horizon next year. Up up and away.

    ReplyDelete
  19. .
    .
    .

    life
    is a flight
    on a faulty plane
    on a stormy night

    some are drunk
    some are sober

    some are real
    some are surreal

    some fall
    some fly
    .
    .
    .





    my dear new friend... thanks for your visit and your sweet words... letting me know you and your fabulous and thought-provoking art... and words...

    love your style... it touches deep... think this is the way our shadow dreams....

    i'll be a follower...
    :)

    ReplyDelete
  20. On a flight
    I paused in fright.
    What is that I see?
    A post-it sticking to the wing.
    Is this the end of me?

    Only kidding. Wish I could afford the travel bug.
    Sweet dreams

    ReplyDelete
  21. Sounds like Ryan Air, sure you weren't in Ireland? :)

    ReplyDelete
  22. thats very funny, the stick-it note

    I've been bitten by the bug - just waiting for time, opportunity and funds to coincide again...

    ReplyDelete
  23. The Further South You Fly The More Exciting It Becomes! The Worst/Best Flight I Ever Took Was Cuban Airlines into Havana.Before Landing,the co-Pilot came and sat in a spare seat near us......'.didnt bother buckling his belt.just draped his legs horizontally on an armrest & lit up a Huge Cigar!
    Coooool!

    ReplyDelete
  24. you don't want to fly, yet want to be a trapeez artist... mmmmm, strange...

    ReplyDelete
  25. some day, when my doggies are behind the rainbowbridge, the travel bug will bite me too:))

    ReplyDelete
  26. great fun post! loved it! so reminds me of flight from northern louisiana down to new orleans years ago - stuck in one of those little prop planes where, once you get on, you're instantly married to all 7 other passengers - out of sheer proximity - anyway, everyone else was dozing or reading or whatever, but i kept glued to the window as i'd noticed we were over water - now i know the BIG LAKE is there, but i didn't think it would take 45 minutes to navigate across or around or whatever - and after 45 minutes, i "reached up" to the pilot and shouted [over the roar of the props] something about had he noticed we were still over water for nearly an hour - and the whole trip hadn't taken much longer - he just nodded and shrugged his shoulders and i was left alone with the watergods again - we finally landed - and when i asked what the deal over the water had been, the pilot answered that we were just on a "hold pattern" cause the airport was so busy - yeah, right!

    sorry to have digressed - great post!

    ReplyDelete
  27. You don't have to train for years to take the leap on a flying trapeze. I did it last year and found it to be the scariest and most exhilarating thing I've ever done. I highly recommend it. Wonderful show Jayne!

    ReplyDelete
  28. truly lovely.

    and I love that your comments say:

    "-comments from honest people having a think."

    that's really wonderful.

    : ]

    ReplyDelete