TheBanyanTree: Flying High

[Jena Norton]

Yesterday I had a wonderful experience. An old friend from days gone by took
me flying in his plane. It's a Cessna 172 and not the latest model by a long
shot. But it was flying like flying is supposed to be.
I used to think I wanted to be a pilot, but after my first flight in a small
plane, I realized being a passenger was infinitely more fun. As a passenger
you don't have to worry about all those silly instruments and such. You can
just look at the world from several thousand feet and enjoy.
This was not the first flight I'd had with this pilot. There were several
back in the 60s. The first time he took me up I was so afraid I'd get air
sick and embarrass myself I took lots of Dramamine. That made me somewhat
sleepy but I didn't get air sick! He thought it was funny after I confessed
why I was nodding off and constantly trying to look alert. We did touch and
go's and he flew me over my parents' house. I fell in love with being a
passenger in a small plane with that flight. He taught me how to preflight a
plane and how to read and refold air nav maps. Those are no small
accomplishments!
My most memorable flight with him was on a birthday. He and my roommate
conspired to make it great. First there was the cake. It was iced in red
with a bouquet of red roses decorating it. There was so much red food
coloring in the cake your mouth looked like a vampire who had the
combination to the blood bank! But the best part came later.
He took my roommate, her date, and me up for a flight over Atlanta at night.
We laughed at the streams of cars heading to the Varsity, a world-famous
drive-in and great place to pick up a new friend. We were amazed at how the
Golden Arches stood out even from several thousand feet. The lights and
color of the downtown buildings and the state capitol with the gold dome
awed us. But the best was yet to come, at least for me.
We flew away from the city lights where the stars were brighter. He told us
to hold on and enjoy the show. He said just to me, I'm going to make the
stars spin for you. And then he put the plane into a spin and the stars
swirled around me. I laughed and cried from the beauty and the joy of it.
It's now 45 years later and the memory is still there.
Lots of things have happened in the interim. Over the years, each in our own
way, has inflicted pain on the other as well as joy and love. I'm willing to
bet he's got some anger at me to almost match my anger at him. All this is
like the 800 pound gorilla sitting in the room and no one acknowledges it.
But on Wednesday, all that was put aside. We flew together again. It was a
beautiful day and so much beautiful land to look at. My only regret was
there were no clouds to play in.


Jena Norton