Bursting with joy

We were flying back from Springfield last Sunday, arcing into a
setting sun the size of a pie tin. It was one of those flights where
you keep catching yourself turning off course, just to get the sun
behind the windshield post and out of your eyes...

We'd been silent most of the way, just enjoying the ride and the
afterglow of a day well-spent visiting old friends, when my daughter,
age 13, asked me to play the theme song from "One Six Right" on the CD
player.

Mary and I both looked at each other, shocked that Becca even knew the
name of the album, much less the song itself -- but I quickly slid the
disk into the player, and listened as the fabulous opening bars began
to play...

(For those who don't know the music, listen to it here, for free:
http://www.onesixright.com/ )

There was a scattered layer of clouds below, and a few above, and the
sun played behind them, scattering the light into a million separate
beams, lighting the verdant farmland far below with a burning,
heavenly glow. The view was simply breath-taking.

My daughter, usually oblivious to the flying she has done so often
since birth, suddenly asked me to "Do the soaring thing to the music,
Dad, like you did before..."

Hesitant to deviate from straight and level while talking to Chicago
Center, I started a little dipping and rolling to the music. I
glanced over to see that her eyes were closed, the sunshine was
lighting her face like an angel, and she was simply *feeling* the
flight with all of her senses. She was grinning from ear to ear.

Inspired, I let my inhibitions go, and began giant swoops and gentle
push-overs, all in time to the orchestral crescendos of "One Six
Right". Soon, I found myself closing *my* eyes, and feeling the
weightlessness at the top of the arc, and the one-G steep turns, back
and forth, all to the beat of the music. It was magical.

Throat tightening, chest bursting, I wanted to cry with joy. If there
is a heaven, it must feel very much like this.

And my daughter was "getting it"!

When we landed, Becca -- vocally against the very notion of learning
to fly for so many years -- said "Dad, maybe I *will* learn to fly
some day..."

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"