Back Seat Driving.

It’s been a challenging few years. Along the way, the pandemic intervened in spoiling our best laid plans for a significant holiday for our 25th wedding anniversary. Recently, my wife and I were very fortunate to be able to make up for that lost time. We flew with to New York to see Billy Joel live at Madison Square Garden a game at Yankee Stadium and a visit to the 9/11 Memorial among other things. From there we travelled to Hawaii for the most relaxing 8 days in about 8 years.

All the way we were seated in economy but with the benefit of a window seat, I was able to take in the vastly differing scenery. In flying from New York to Los Angeles, we crossed the United States and revisited a route that I have overflown before – but certainly have never tired of. In fact, a dream would be to fly coast to coast in a light aircraft one day – who knows? Never say never.

As we climbed away from New York’s JFK airport, the sweeping turn offered views of Manhattan Island with its towering skyline and the Hudson River where “Sully” had ditched his Airbus A320 in 2009. (Was it that long ago???)

In the cruise we transited the southern tip of Lake Erie and passed to the south of Chicago. Continuing westward our flight took us past Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Nevada and ultimately to Los Angeles, California. And while the entire trip captured my attention, despite the early  cloud cover, Colorado to California was something special.

The way in which the Rocky Mountains formed a jagged barrier between east and west, its peaks covered with snow as winter approached. Yet beyond the mountain range existed a small band of irrigation before it morphed into a reddish moonscape of desolation. For miles the isolation continued before the Grand Canyon cut deep into the earth.

I sensed the jet’s nose pitching down and noted the change in engine tone which marked our descent. The final stages were familiar as we aligned with Runway 24-Right at Los Angeles beneath a grey overcast. Taxiing in, the tail of a Qantas A380 was visible to our right, parked from where we departed on the final Qantas Boeing 747 flight to Mojave in 2020. (Was it that long ago???)

As we waited to disembark, I contemplated how even after all the years and thousands of hours aloft, there is always something to grasp my attention. Some folks crawl over each others’ backs to get a corner office. I’m lucky that the view from my office changes every few minutes…even when I’m back seat driving.