Take Off

(January 7, posted belatedly)

Through the airplane window I watch snow lap up over the airport, covering car and airplane etchings on the white ground. After being taxied to the de-icing station and sprayed with Christmas colored solutions over the steel airplane frame, my plane roars and breaks into the sky.

AWEsome. These incredibly heavy machines fly thousands of feet above the earth, to new places so comfortably and quickly. Here I am with my snacks, cushioned seat, movie, and stewardesses pulling snacks and drinks down the aisle. In less than 24 hours I will be thousands of miles away. How could such a heavy object have lifted itself into the air and brought me from here to there?

My grandfather says that this time is magic. His curiosity reminds me of how little the common man (myself) knows about the devices used these days, being limited to user interface, buttons, or wheels (unless you’re Tron and you’re actually IN the COMPUTER). He was curious about my digital camera and computer, asking how they work, to which I replied…

“Pixels.”

…not to be confused with Pixies. What about airplanes? Aerodynamics/Pixy Dust. Computers? Microchips/Special Lava. Cars? Combustion/Prayer. The Internet? CSS/ Html/001110101110/It’s-a-mystery.

Technology has cut/stripped distance between people; connection is absolutely instant; we can have it NOW (5 seconds is too slow). Nowadays, we have Internet Explorer. Google provides pictures and tours of areas all over the world. Famous architecture, cities, and terrain can be seen by each and every one of us through the inter-web!

But an entire profession has been lost: a true explorer. As said to Truman (The Truman Show) when desperately wanting to leave the island, “Actually, everything has already been explored.”

What must have it felt like to unlock the treasures of the Louisiana Purchase for the first time? Or, to saddle up and drag your family out west? Or, to hop on a boat and end up in the cold winters of New England? To go to the jungles of Africa? These people were CRAZY and willing to risk their lives to see something new and live a different life. People drew beautiful maps speculating how the world must look. Now we have views from the (freaking) moon.

You don’t have to be insane anymore, or crazy. If you save up some money and get some time off, you can go. You can do it.

Between airplanes and the Internet alone, it’s amazing how much of a genius man can be.

***Airport Interlude ***

On a very different note, one knows they are in the Houston airport when one spots a Fox News themed gift store not far from middle aged adults grouped with youth and carrying backpacks (a.k.a. MISSIONS TRIP). At this very moment I’m watching their Jansported backs walk away from me. Earlier I was searching for kiosks and stores at which to break down my $20 bills into smaller bills and was asked by a friendly kiosk-man,

“You must be going out of the country. Where are you going?”

“Ecuador.”

“Is it a mission?”

To botch up a quote from Elf, “What’s a mission? I want one!”

***Airport Interlude: End; Enter Airplane Thoughts ***

The sky just pulled back to reveal the blue Mediterranean sea below my plane. I hadn’t been expecting it so soon. There was a tiny opening act of Texas farmland followed by smog before our cloud floor dropped out. It’s beautiful up here. Our captain is rotating between Spanish and English. There is a Chinese couple sitting next to me and they were asking how to count in Spanish. I’m worried for them, looks they they’re in for a rougher language ride than I.

There’s only four hours between me and America del Sur. I never purchase wine alone when traveling through airports or on airplanes, but I just did.

An Opportunity

When your eyes are open just enough you finally see an opportunity rise out of the ground, on the horizon. Majestic and powerful, he will take you with him, lifting you out of the routine you've lived in for so long. Here he comes with his big wings spread, get ready to jump into his claws. He's not going to hurt you, but he may scratch you a bit because his claws are not very soft. Up you go, higher than an airplane or a rainbow, or a dream, he takes you, soaring through cumulus clouds and spots of orange sunset light.

Ah! His furry claws tickle a little bit, causing you to laugh as the adrenaline speeds through your veins, to your fingertips. You are almost flying yourself, yet helpless without his powerful wings navigating the sky. And he is beautiful, this creature that you had never imagined because your mind can't create to the extent that it ought to. His wings are bright blue with a stunning palette of shades, muddled with gold speckles and green splotches burning like embers in a passionate fire. The undercoat of his wings are all you see above you. His golden claws grip you and you hang, legs dangling like flower petals or leaves. you don't know what you did to deserve this ride, astounded by the new perspective you now have on the land. Its vastness overwhelms you, and how small it makes you feel, but how exciting is it all! You even let out a loud cry to the bird, attempting to communicate joy in the way you know best.

Hello world! How big you are! I am discovering you in every direction and all I can see are areas unknown to me.

And you don't want to close your eyes because the landscape is so glorious.

Turns out the opportunity has a destination in mind, unfortunately you can't be in the sky forever gripped in his royal hand. After awhile the ground begins to come towards you. The houses and people settle around you and you need to leave the opportunity's claws. Now the investigation begins. What is this new place and why does it feel so strange? What is strange about it? The adventure stops and you realize you have so much work ahead of you. Now you have to comprehend your surroundings as if it were a research project.

Where am I? Where was I taken? All I see are Xs and Ys and I can't seem to do the equation very well and don't know the answers.

And like research, you must be proactive and study. Set a hypothesis and find evidence or clues. Set goals.

As you live in this new place you find you are growing taller and you're surprised by how many sections of your brain had never been explored. You can feel them become alive like a lite-brite, forming different pictures of what you'd like to be, solidifying convictions.

All around you has become new and although you hadn't recognized it, you let it take you.