Awoke around 9am to a continuing rainshower and immediately thought of the planes and how they fared during the night. The morning weather news indicated that the night storm was not as bad as had been forecast so that relieved some of the concern for the planes. The rest of the anxiety left when I just let go of it, realizing that there was nothing I could do to change whatever happened to them, if anything in fact did. I would learn of their condition when I went out to the airport today to see for myself.
As I walked into the kitchen for breakfast, I noticed a young deer standing just 10 feet outside the door. It was almost too perfect to be real, and it hardly moved. It just didn't make sense. I hadn't seen a deer so close, in the daytime, in a residential area, but my parents are lucky enough to see dozens of them, and a whole flock of wild turkeys, on their heavily wooded homesite in the Philadelphia suburb of Huntingdon Valley. Their home is far off the road, nestled among dense tall trees, and it is a quiet, secluded, and very peaceful place.
After Mom prepared a great home-cooked breakfast, Art and I drove across town to visit Barry Dunleavy, my very good friend from High School days. Barry is always a treat to spend some time with, and I look him up every time I'm in town. He and Art hit it off great and got into major discussions about fly fishing, a passion they both share. We all ate some awesome Philly cheese steak sandwiches (again) and it was just a great visit.
Unfortunately it was cut short because we had to get Art back to meet a Fedex deadline. When we started this trip over 5 weeks ago, Art had his house in California up for sale. During the trip, he got a buyer, (and then another who bid against each other!), sold the home, and will close escrow, all while he is 3,000 miles away. The details are being handled by his capable (and lovely) wife Betty. In fact, she is even handling the details of moving the entire contents of the home to their new home in Boulder Colorado. So I guess the bottom line is that it will now be impossible for Art to go home to the home from which he left. Instead he will go to a completely different home. Now that's the way to handle a move!
Early in the afternoon the sun broke through. A major unexpected event. It was forecast to be raining, and we were just totally unprepared to fly, but we probably could have. It underscores just how unpredictable the weather can be.
The forecast is for potentially flyable weather tomorrow, but it's anybody's guess what time it will get that way. I'm hoping to get to the airport early, and just wait around for sunshine. When (if) it becomes flyable, the plan is to head south to the Chesapeake Bay, and fly low over the shoreline to Easton Maryland to visit Dave Hill, my college roommate. From there, fly on to Washington DC area and visit with John Tiller, another high school friend. Then over to Fredricksburg Virginia to visit Gerhard Gschwandtner, the publisher of Personal Selling Power magazine, and a good friend. Then south to Kitty Hawk, the site of the first powered manned flight by the Wright brothers, the guys who started it all.
Of course, it is completely unknown as to how long it will take to get there, or even if the weather will cooperate at all. However, whatever happens, you can be sure it will be a mixture of many hours of boredom, a few hours of extraordinary joy in the air, good times with new and old friends, new places and new lessons on life. I'll try to share some of the more interesting stuff with you as it happens.
For those of you who know me well, you know that I really treasure my solitude and quiet times. Sometimes, when life gets a little busy, and there hasn't been a lot of flying for several days, I kind of get a little bit "antsy" and on edge. I'm feeling that way now, and I miss my quiet place in the sky. One thing that has helped me calm down and find peace is the time at the end of the day when I get a chance to write and share some thoughts with these emails.
Thanks for coming along with me. I really appreciate your company.
:)