while flying west to seattle (excerpts)

6/7/8

takeoff is my favorite part. that single moment when the wheels are suddenly no longer on the ground, when everything familiar falls away from beneath you and you think, "there's no turning back now"...when the added gravity pushes me back into my seat, i get a rush of elation and realize i am Free.

the Midwest is FLAT!

we are chasing the sun as it sets.

i am still, i think, happiest when moving. it has been this way for a long time. change is good; stagnation is suffocation. every adventure, no matter how long, is not only worthwhile but vital.

i have felt since i was a child that i [would] belong among the clouds. perhaps not to live, but certainly for a vacation. my conviction has only grown as i have become older that the clouds are populated by some glorious, celestial beings--not angels anymore, but mystical queens and kings of this realm.

the person behind me just closed the window i could see out of. this makes me sad. i like sitting just behind the wing, but it does limit my field of vision a bit.

i am flying parallel to a thunderstorm, and this seems fitting somehow.


nothing quite like hearing "Defying Gravity" when you are literally miles above the ground.

i'm troubled by the idea that if i start working now toward the life i expect i will want when i'm 26 (that once arbitrary number is now well-established), i will undoubtedly do something in the next 5 years to mess it up irreparably.

i'm always so reluctant to sleep on the plane, especially when i'm flying over a new part of the country, because i don't want to miss anything!

where are these mountains i have so greatly anticipated? are we too far north? i was sure they ran all the way up....

the sun has sunk below the clouds, and sets them ablaze
this has got to be the most beautiful sunset i've ever seen.