What a day of extremes . Having been up for 31 hours with about 90 more minutes to some well anticipated sleep. It's been amazing what this day has brought.
For the record there are three things in life that I am an absolute baby about. In no particular order: flying, being upside down, and anything to do with being on the water. Today all three almost happened at once. When we departed Minneapolis heading for Iceland for the first of two layovers enroute to the World Masters Games in Turin, Italy, the flight was delayed from a severe thunderstorm warning. No problems with me on that. Sitting in the plane on the jet way being buffeted around by blasts of wind that are shaking the entire Boeing 757, I was perfectly fine not being in the air with that or the sheets of rain that made it impossible to see the far tip of the wing. To the flight crews' credit we were grounded until 7:45PM when the warning expired, then the engines whined, gasping to pull in air and seconds later we are screaming down the run way pushing to get airborne. Words are simply not enough to explain the feeling of climbing through a storm, being pushed left and right, pulling up and down, as you wonder why it was a smart idea to ever leave the comfort of the Earth to take to the not so friendly skies. But after a hard 10 minutes and a sweat line which reached to mid chest, the bright and welcoming blue has replaced the ominous and angry grey expanse. At least until we had to pass over the next wave of storms, which hit over Lake Superior. Trying desperately to keep my eyes closed and focus on some rhythmic breathing to self sooth, I peaked at the flight data streaming live in the head rest of the seat in front of me. 1,800 feet. No B.S. that is what the difference was from one drop until the screen refreshed. 1,800 feet of time for your mind to go crazy. As we bounce out of the drop, I make eye contact with the flight attendant, her eyes betray the smile on her face. It's good to see that I was not the only one nervous about our rollercoaster ride. Just then the wind gust, and it seems that I am not going to catch a break. First just a little bump going to the right, then whoosh back to the left, then right, just enough to break us from level. Just as fast as my neurons can fire, any and every possible outcome are happening in my mind, and none of them are going to end well. All three things I hate most in life almost happening at once, or at least in my mind they did. The yelp that escaped from my wife, offers a escape my the mental prison. She looks over at me and says "If we crash and die, who else would you want with you?" No, you are not helping me with that one. Not helping at all.
That was the worst flight experience I have ever had the misfortune to have, and the low point of the trip. But at the same time during this endless travel day, I witnessed the Midnight Sun banishing the darkness from the Artic pre-dawn and the sun setting over the Italian Alps and reflecting off of the River Po making it look as if the river was a red-orange ribbon of fire snaking it's way though the Piedmont region as the setting sun shown at just the perfect angle. Those two views were nearly awesome enough to off-set the heart stopping horror of the earlier leg of this trip.
On purpose, I do not have any pictures to share of these views. It was a deliberate decision not to live this vacation staring through the screen of this tablet or my camera phone, but to see the sights so I can remember them. Of course we car going capture the moments so show friends and family, but as of recently, I have felt that there has been something missing from my daily adventures. And that was my own curious mind. For too long I have been taking pictures and video of events so I could relive the moments, without really living them the first time around. Seeing the sites of the Old World framed by the carrying case of my phone, is not the way this trip will live in my memory. Of course there will be pictures to share on Facebook, but not at the expense of the experience. And now, finally, it is time for a good nights' sleep.
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