I no longer have to breath deeply and grip the arm rests when the airplane takes off. I do not focus on the flight attendants as if they are explaining the meaning of life when they demonstrate how to put on the oxygen mask. I’ve traveled several times over the past two years and each trip has made me a little more confident and a little less uneasy to take to the skies.

However, I was a bit worried about that middle section of the flight path illustrated above on my most recent flight that crossed the vast Atlantic Ocean. When we took off from Paris, I could gaze out the window below to see ships skating across the water like toys in the bathtub. Then we coasted above the clouds and I was glad because I did not want to see the vast emptiness that would await us if something went wrong, knowing no one would be there to help us but ourselves.

So when Air France flight 447 disappeared and eventually the wreckage was found, [...]

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Remember how I had to rearrange my exercise schedule because the sun had audacity the start setting early without consulting me first and I didn’t want to be on the trail at night? Well, two nights ago some guy was waving a gun around a tanning salon in a shopping complex visible from my trail route. What can we learn from this, children? It’s not paranoia if they’re really trying to kill you. Also, tanning can be potentially deadly in ways having nothing to do with skin cancer. Now, to call my brother about that pepper spray.

I’m going to be out of town this weekend visiting my other brother in Boston who doesn’t own pepper spray, so there will be no updates until next week. I know you’re devastated, but please don’t go on any eating binges in the midst of your grief. This also means there will be no weigh-in on Saturday since I won’t have access to my scale. I suppose I could bring it with me, but the baggage screeners would probably [...]

• Continue reading "Leaving on a jet plane"