Up

I remember when I was a kid - teenager really - when I had access to a vehicle and some modicum of freedom when not babysitting. Living in Albuquerque, NM. Albuquerque is one mile high.. it sits at the base of mountains that go another mile up. I believe the elevation at Sandia Crest is over 11,000 ft (Ok, 10,678ft - I was close).

I remember when I would want to get away, I would tend to go up. Sometimes I'd go up to the whitewash... a white rock face in the Sandia Foothills scoured clean by run off from occasional storms. Other times I would drive up I-40 East Bound, then head half way up the back of the mountain... to a spot where I could park and watch the stars. I remember a cement plant near that place that really lit up the night. When I was really really upset, I'd drive all the way to the top of Sandia Crest.. watch the sunset or hike.

I've been learning how to fly and remembering how much I like being Up above it all. When I learned there's a possibility that I won't be able to get my pilots license due to medical problems.. my first instinct was to find the tallest place I can (around here that means 3000 or 4000 ft) and climb up. As New Model Army sing in their song High:

All these things you fear so much depend on angles of vision
From down in the maze of walls you can't see what's coming
But from high on the high hills it all looks like nothing
But from high on the high hills it all looks like nothing, nothing

Flying is a physical, mental and I'm finding emotional challenge. When I'm up in the air, it all does look like nothing... and feel like nothing. I don't have time to think of problems at work or medical worries or anything but the challenge and joy of flying. It has a similar affect on me to running. During and after a long run, its all nothing.. my angle of vision is changed, if only for a while.

It will be close to two years before I can reach my goal, the license for me to fly what I want and WHEN I want (within reason). And its hard for me to be willing to wait. The craziness in my job, the overwhelming aspects of my life leave me briefly when I run or fly. I haven't been running much recently, I've been flying. Now I know that I have basically 3 more lessons before winter sets in. Then its catch as catch can for flying for me.. just trying to find time back in town that works for me as well as the CFI.

Well... enough rambling. Anyway... right now I really want to go Up. Its a full moon tonight, I love flying at night when the moon is out. The land looks magical from Up above the Earth on a moonlit night. Maybe I'll dream Up.. I won't get there tonight otherwise.