People who have near death experiences all talk about a peaceful, euphoric , bright light enveloping them. From the moment we are conceived, we are moving towards that light. This is my heels diggin' in, I don't wanna' go, reluctant journey, into the light. Stephen







Sunday, January 17, 2010

Contrails. Thoughts From Inside a Flying Shiny Tube

When I see the spore of modern travel, contrails, I often think of the myriad tales and travails, that define those metal encased folks hurtling through the sky.  Who are they?  Why are they up there?  What are they feeling?  Human events of all stripes being attended to through the sky. Births, death, marriage, play, work, betrayal, honor and duty.  Not only does air travel allow attendance at far flung locales for a multitude of reasons, but every human emotion is being played out in those folks minds as they fly.  For instance, right now, somewhere up there people are talking to themselves................


click pics to enlarge


An overweight, disheveled, middle aged business man with a bead of sweat on his brow.  "DOWNSIZING, My ass.  Downgrading is more like it.  They'll see, they'll see.  Bastards."

A 62 year old Lutheran sunday school teacher sitting next to an overweight, disheveled, business man.  "....and Lord, please give us miracles in Haiti today. Give strength to the rescuers and hope to the stricken......."

Across the aisle from a Lutheran sunday school teacher, An ex-NBA playa.  "We'll see "bout dat shit, I got mo than one gun."





Up in business class, wearing a silk suit picked up in Hong Kong last week, a junior V.P. in marketing, with an overdose of hair gel. "....all we need is more tits and ass in the ads and we could sell the hell out of this."

Handing another beer to the junior V.P. with waaaaaaaay too much gel in his hair, a gay flight attendant.  "...what a shame, all that beautiful silk going to waste on a putz."

Up front in the right hand seat, a brand spankin'  new hire commercial pilot.  "...fuckin' mortgage,  fuckin' tuition, fuckin' car payment. I miss the Navy."




Glued to the window in the very back, an eager young Mormon missionary, flying for the first time. "...OH MY GOD, look, look, you can see the temple.  Oh Wow!  Wow!  Holy Cow! The temple!"

Sitting one window in front of a Mormom missionary, looking at exactly the same thing, a surfer from Santa Cruz.  "...Dude!  The Transamerica Tower,  capitalist pricks."

Sitting on the aisle, 3 rows up from a Santa Cruz surfer, a naive, but perky coed.  "..love is sooooo cool, especially when I come."

Next time you are cruising high above the earth in a jet, look around. Who are those people?  And why are all of you up there in the sky?

4 comments:

Jane said...

Hi Stephen,
I found your blog through Sandi at Lucky 13 and Counting. I am wowed by your lyric use of language! This was a beautiful post. Have you written any books? You have something to say and you say it VERY well. Thanks!

Stephen said...

Jane, Thank you for your kind sentiments. I'm just a regular guy who isn't going to hold it all IN any more. Shame and possible rejection be damned. It puts a smile on my face that you heard my voice. stephen

AW1 Tim said...

Stephen,

I see contrails every day. In the morning, they are all inbound, headed south towards Boston and New York. Heavies coming in from Europe. Late afternoon through evening, they switch to headed north, overhead, heavies with their moads headed back over the pond.

The easiest route from Europe is west towards Gander, then south over Bangor, Portland, Boston, New York. That way they spend less time over water, and have large runway options should they need it. Same thing headed back. North up the coast over the mainland untill Gander, or thereabouts, then east towards their destination.

Stephen said...

I'm sitting under alot of traffic to L.A. Denver/Hub stuff alot. Also alot of southern traffic into central and northern C.A. More military traffic than you would expect too. Big exercise up at Nellis last week, and I suspect alot of the fast movers were involved with that. Those are "MY" fast movers!