Both Sides

Ahhhhh – wasn’t that a nice little vacation from blogging? Kind of unplanned, in the sense that I planned to do too many things over the past month, and things like blogging and cleaning the house [oh, how I wish I were kidding about that!] had to take a back seat. Now, this morning, our phone is out, so I can’t work, and I have the choice of blogging or cleaning. Guess which one I chose?

Regular readers will perhaps remember that I flew in an airplane for the first time in 2009. I have always been queasy about heights – just thinking about looking down from a place like the Empire State Building, or a step ladder makes my feet feel all weird. “Squinchy” is the way I thought of that feeling when I was a kid. Fear wasn’t the only reason I hadn’t flown before. We didn’t have the money and/or the time for most of our adult lives. Not wanting to, definitely played a part in the whole thing – the idea of flying was mentally “off the table” when planning any kind of trip. Plus, we rather enjoy car trips, so that was our preferred mode of travel.

I only made two trips on public transit when flying would have made sense to people who get on planes. One, by bus, to help my sister after knee surgery was, um … interesting, where interesting means bizarre, weird, uncomfortable and stinky. The other, by train, to hang out with Mark while his little sister was being born, actually was truly interesting and really fun. And not stinky at all. But then, when my sister in law died, I finally had no choice but to get on a plane. I made my reservation, certain I would throw up and then die in a fiery plummet to earth. Reality was scary, then not as scary, then pretty cool, then pretty freaking scary. [little bitty plane, big plane that was delayed forever, big plane at night with a smooth as silk flight, little bitty plane in the remains of a bunch of big storms, with so much turbulence that the stewardess canceled drink service – I think she was puking in the bathroom, maybe]

We have flown twice since that first trip and no one is more shocked than I about the fact that I absolutely love flying. It’s fun. And beautiful.

clouds from airplane

Ice cream castles in the air

I took these photos on the way home from Georgia, over someplace down south. We ended up sitting in the Detroit airport for many hours past the time that our connecting flight home was supposed to have left, finally squeezing on the last weather delayed flight of the night. But even that was great, since we were treated to a beautiful night-time view of the Finger Lakes as we flew into Ithaca.

Rows and flows of angel hair

Fast forward a couple months, and come down to earth to see these photos of the beginnings of a night of horrific storms that made an incredible mess all over our area, and knocked out our power for about 20 hours. You could just tell this was going to be a bad storm.

Feather canyons getting ready to rain on everyone

I don’t think Joni Mitchell was talking about the difference between clouds from a plane, and clouds from my front porch, when she wrote the song, but I like the physical ‘both sides’ of clouds myself.

Blocking the sun - with a vengeance

But then, I’m rather fond of life’s illusions too, which is apparently evident in the fact that while everyone else is complaining about crowded airports and delayed flights and weird fellow passengers, I’m just looking forward to the next time I get to see the tops of the clouds.


this is the version of “Both Sides Now” from Miles of Aisles, in case you would like to give it a listen

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7 Responses to Both Sides

  1. carlac says:

    Hey! You’re back! I’m glad to see you again. I’m not very comfortable in a plane and I try to get an aisle seat so that I can’t see out. A big chicken is what I am! I’m glad to enjoy your photos though.

  2. Ellyn says:

    Those last two look very mean. Like maybe it’s time to take ones camera and go in the house. Quickly. Very pretty though.

  3. Donalyn says:

    Hi carla & thanks! I’m glad to be back :)

    You know I did Ellyn – can’t get the camera wet!

  4. Wow! Great storm shots. And, welcome back. What are we baking today?

  5. Anonymous says:

    I hadn’t listened to that song in years. It’s funny how thirty years (or so) of life can change the way you “hear” a song. Very nice. :)
    RA

  6. Donalyn says:

    Thanks Lauren – we gots some lemony limey strawberry muffins – very yummy.

    RA – I never stopped listening to Joni. Her voice is much different now, but still very pure.

  7. CM says:

    Duh! It took me awhile why suddenly digging out the ‘ole Both Sides Now … a hippie flashback … “I’ve seen clouds from both sides now!”
    I enjoy flying too! I always plan out my seating arrangement (SWA, which is what I always fly, doesn’t allow assigned seats ahead of time) so that I can have a window seat, far behind the wing, (so as to not block vision), and on the north side to avoid harsh direct sunlight and with a window placement that allows me to rest my head on the windowsill and look directly out! It usually works out, and I get grumpy when it doesn’t … but I’m not picky or anything like that!

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