FEAR OF FLYING?

I dread flying, but on my flight to Portland, I suddenly realized that, seated by the window facing East, with the plane's wing providing an interesting angle on the clouds and landscape below, I was able to see some stunning landscape through the porthole. And I had a digital camera in my handbag! So, why the heck not? I started snapping photos. My fear of flying disappeared.

Here are some of them, beginning with my first view of the Rockies.






I've always loved looking at cloud landscapes from a window seat. Several of these cloud terrains were especially seductive.





I like to imagine stepping out into an endless landscape of clouds.




And then through the clouds I could see Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams, as we approached Portland.










As we descended into Portland, I snapped a few final photos.



The river is the mighty Columbia!



This one I captured seconds before landing.

BACK FROM OREGON

(On top of the world, wearing my Asheville Wordfest tee. You can barely see Mt. Sain Helen's in the distance.)

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Back home. And so much to do! More cabbage to do something with (sauerkraut? freezing? eating cabbage non-stop?), beets, more chard. Not to mention a house that needs cleaning, clothes that need washing, dogs ---well, we know about dogs. All 4 of them need their flea treatments, a little ear-work, and brushing, brushing, brushing.

Let me begin to tell a little about my trip to Portland, Oregon first, though. Woman's work is never done, but the memories of travel can begin to fade, faster and faster with age.

I'd never been to the Pacific Northwest. My good friend and poet Penelope Scambly Schott had been begging me to come visit her for years, but I always had other commitments, other excuses for staying home. This summer I didn't, so I booked a flight.

I dreaded the long flight, of course. And of course my flight was delayed. There had been a huge storm in Atlanta the night before, wreaking havoc with schedules, so we had to wait on the runway before being allowed to lift off for Atlanta. On the plane I met a delightful woman in a delightful hat who has returning to San Francisco after a week of visiting a friend in Asheville. We were both carrying different issues of The SUN and discovered that we were both poets. She was worried about missing her flight, with good reason. I hope she made it.

The plane to Portland took us over a lot of this country. When I looked up at the computerized flight path on the little screen above my seat, I realized we were passing over the Colorado Rockies, so I pulled out my digital camera. I'll be posting some of those photos next time. Meanwhile, here I am above on THE summit, to which I climbed with my friend's hiking group. They call this summit axis mundi, and I can understand why. From it one can see five peaks, including Mt. Hood, Adams, Rainier, and St. Helen's.



(If you look closely, you can see Mt. St. Helen's and Mt. Rainier.)



(Mt. Saint Helen's)



(Mount Hood)