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descent
The post-9/11 air never made its mark on me. I was on a plane barely a month later, fearing not. It’s not that I don’t believe in bad things, I just don’t believe in fussing over things you cannot control. Usually.
Besides, I love flying. Acceleration. Liftoff. Bumpy landings. Circling. Turbulence. Seeing the land below like a patchwork quilt. Trying to see the sky above clouds the way O'Keefe did.
I spent most of our descent with my nose pressed to the window and hand on my camera, hoping to be the first one to recognize a glimpse of the City. (Second, I mean. I did hope our pilots would spot Manhattan first.) I begged Alex to turn out his reading light (Reading? On a plane? When there are sparkly things aligning below?). I never share my window seat.
And I believe that “Look! I found the Triborough!” were the last words I uttered before the plane stumbled uncharismatically onto the runway, smacking my head into the camera into the window. I’m pretty sure I had that coming.
comments (13)
Oooh, that's lovely.
1 | Mo | November 17, 2004 05:34 PM
Hey! There's my house! *smack*
2 | New Blue Shoe | November 17, 2004 07:37 PM
you can't control if you get on a plane? :)
cool piks. this is also my first comment on the new site which i like very much by the way.
3 | hub | November 17, 2004 07:43 PM
so the last one would be the smacking? very cool.
4 | saj | November 18, 2004 09:39 AM
i hate to fly. but those pictures are beautiful. and funny at the end.
5 | beth | November 18, 2004 09:50 AM
I do that too!!! How funny. People on airplanes always look at me as if I'm nuts.
6 | Daniella | November 18, 2004 09:52 AM
We ARE nuts, aren't we?
Oh, and if any New Yorker can tell me whether I correctly identified the bump on my head, er, I mean the Triborough, or if it was something else, let me know.
7 | deb | November 18, 2004 09:59 AM
it might be the Throgs Neck Bridge.
Oh and:
"I just don’t believe in fussing over things you cannot control"
That is the funniest thing you have ever said.
8 | jocelyn | November 18, 2004 12:54 PM
Tu es tres adorable, mon amie. Au revoir, ma chere!
9 | Esther | November 18, 2004 02:29 PM
I'm with you. One evening when I was flying into DC, the lights below were so beautiful that I teared up. Unfortunately, I was flying alone and the stranger next to me thought I was crazy.
10 | Lizzie | November 18, 2004 09:41 PM
Oh, don't worry. The stranger (that I've been dating for a year now) next to me thought I was crazy, too, and laughed, hard, when I bumped my noggin.
11 | deb | November 18, 2004 10:12 PM
wow. i feel the exact same way about flying but never put it down like that. thanks!
12 | ;o | November 18, 2004 11:10 PM
"smacking my head into the camera into the window". Now that's just hilarious. Oh yeah...I'm sorry you banged your head.
13 | Howard | November 19, 2004 03:20 PM