In The Air
I don't wear a watch.
...on a plane and when the clouds part I see a town, a triangle of highways scratched in a dry land. In the triangle, a grid of streets. Clouds again, then a break and a line of tall white turbines in a wind farm turning amazingly fast for their size.
West Texas? New Mexico? Arizona? I know precisely where I am. Seat 29F. But otherwise, I am adrift. Without time or location, alone among strangers. I don't know how long I have been flying, how much longer I will fly. I am cocooned in the harsh thrum of jet engines.
We came out of the savannas of Africa, tens of thousands of years ago, making a map in our heads that we measured with our feet and our eyes, walking in the company of kin. We are nomads by biology. But we weren't made for this.
...on a plane and when the clouds part I see a town, a triangle of highways scratched in a dry land. In the triangle, a grid of streets. Clouds again, then a break and a line of tall white turbines in a wind farm turning amazingly fast for their size.
West Texas? New Mexico? Arizona? I know precisely where I am. Seat 29F. But otherwise, I am adrift. Without time or location, alone among strangers. I don't know how long I have been flying, how much longer I will fly. I am cocooned in the harsh thrum of jet engines.
We came out of the savannas of Africa, tens of thousands of years ago, making a map in our heads that we measured with our feet and our eyes, walking in the company of kin. We are nomads by biology. But we weren't made for this.
posted by Maureen McHugh at 9:59 PM
1 Comments:
I prefer not to wear a watch when I fly. I'm in a zen space where time is ever-changing, as we change time zones. I can come adrift in time, enjoying my book or the scenery. We'll get there when we get there. I'll be served beverages or (maybe) food when it comes. I can't make the plane go faster or arrive earlier.
And now they want to give people internet service in the air? Yikes!
--Kathy H
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