Churl-Free #4: In Flight

Getting this in under the wire on an only-positive day.

Late yesterday afternoon this is how the upper Hudson River Valley, north and east of Albany, looked from 4500 feet at around 6pm. Miles away to our left, serious thunderstorms were pummeling cities from Westchester County and New York down to Philadelphia. This is the view out the left window of the plane, looking east, taken by my wife who was sitting in the right front seat. She angled the camera to shoot behind me, in the left seat. We were away from the clouds, which started to our left, and safely distant from the storms on a trip from Maine to Gaithersburg, outside DC.*

My wife is planning to write soon for her site and the Atlantic.com's "Life" channel an account, based on the same photo, of the dramas one overhears on the air-traffic control frequencies on trips like this. For now, and closing an upbeat day, I just offer the picture as an intro to her tale. And, yes, when I'm ready to reconsider less upbeat topics tomorrow, this will also be an intro to the Congressional spectacle that has led to the shutdown of the FAA.

*And before you ask: yes yes yes, small airplanes are an incredible luxury in addition to being an adventure. But with the fuel mixture set on "best economy" and benign winds and flying point to point, our total gas consumption was no more than if we'd done the same route by car. (OK, I know this is a rationalization, and train or bus on the route would be less. But we're looking on the positive side of things today.)

Back to work tomorrow.