Adventure!

Pre-flight:

I am going flying with my brother. I love the sky.
You think this wouldn't be such a big deal considering I am flying to Thailand on Saturday and will be on a plane for a bagillion hours but it is.
I am very excited.

Post-Flight

If you really want to know the most unnerving feeling in the world, get into a plane that won't turn on. Then sit it while the mechanic fiddles with it. Then try starting it again only have it shut off. Then have them attach jumper cables because the "battery is dead." Try repeating the whole process twice.

See what it'll do to your nerves.

Impressively, the whole routine didn't bother me at all. I looked over longingly at the helicopters. If I'm a pilot which, you know sort of sounds appealing right now, I think I'd like to fly the choppers. I mean, my mom calls me Heli anyways. Plus you get to do some pretty cool stuff. I think the only reason I'd join the armed forces or coast guard would be to be a helicopter pilot...that stuff is pretty cool. Anways, back to my story.



When the plane finally stopped sputtering and the rotator prop finally started spinning it was all go! go! go! which was more of a relief than anything else. We marched the plane down to the beginning of the runway and my brother started his pilot speech (whatever that is) and soon it was zoom zoom zoom and we were off and flying.



It's strange how different places you've known all your life look when your a couple of thousand feet above them. The whole experience was wild and I found myself in a continual state of awe. I had a really great trip and even got to steer the plane for a little while which was, quite entertaining, until I sort of started sending us slightly closer to the ocean in a weird sort of turn thing...



The whole time I kept thinking how this wasn't the "space pilot" life I dreamed about as a little kid (for those of you who don't know, that was my dream job..flying into unknown galaxies and making friends with alien races until I learned that you know, that stuff didn't actually happen...yet) but it was still pretty grand.


It took me back to Alaska and the time when Drake buzzed our camp and had us hitting the deck like mad because he was barely twenty feet above our heads. I wanted to buzz the ocean but Matt said that was a no-go. Still, I thought it would be exciting to dip down near the water and send the salty water soaring into the air as we zipped on by.

Now, I'm getting ready for my next adventure which involves too much plane time without the whole "family connection" thing. But I've been stocking up on getting ready. I'm bringing some good books:

House of Leaves (which I have been reading intermittenly since Novemeber) very dense and hard to get through but entirely worth it... the story is about a house that is bigger on the inside then it is on the out... Not for the faint hearted nor the non-literary inclined as it is kind of hard to work through and there are many many allusions to other works (some real, some not). definitely worth the time its taken me.

The other books I am taking are from the Pellinor series. (Fantasy writing) And so far, I have been very well pleased. The author is very good at including good, strong, details that are not overwhelming. She also presents a tail that is hooking despite its slower pace. In fact, the slow pace makes it all the much more believable. I have had a wonderful time going through the first book putting all my little "editting" comments... for those of you who have never borrowed a book from me my comments consist of highlighting good description of people, places, or things, as well as a running commentary of the plot and things I think the author does well or does poorly. I find it helps my own writing and reading becomes, not only an enjoyable experience, but also a tool to help me improve my own work with.

I am quite sad I will be leaving my laptop behind as that means a loss of time for writing, but hopefully I can conduct the planning stages (aka the harder part) while sitting in nice Thai resturaunts or on the luxurious beaches of the Seychelles.

All in all...
I can't wait.

Xo.