musings from 35,000 feet

Late last week, I had a quick business trip to New Jersey.  Somehow, the flight gods were smiling down on me, because both going and coming, I managed to score an empty row all to myself.  And while I am generally a very nervous flyer and am rather fatigued with the airline business as a whole, getting a little row all to myself (both ways!) felt like a free upgrade to first class.

Once I forget about the possibility of the plane plummeting to a fiery end, I actually quite enjoy the experience of flying, especially when I have the room to spread out a bit.   There's something about the solitude, the drone of the engines, that encourages such introspection, don't you think?  In fact, when I fly, I try to bring things that help make the experience as conducive to creativity and peace as possible:  some roasted almonds, my favourite tea, my journal, pens, pencils, paints, a good book, and of course, my camera.

Always my camera.

Images:  Photographed from seat 44A (and B!) on Continental Flight #106 on Saturday.  All shot with my Nikon D300, 50mm lens, with an aperture of 11, and an ISO of 200.  On the first two, the shutter speed was 1/250.  On the second two, the shutter speed was 1/500.  And the last photo, immediately above, was shot at 1/800.

Song: Big yellow taxi as performed by Counting Crows, featuring Vanessa Carlton