Thunderbirds

Flying is amazing. People willing to pilot an airplane are, to me, an inspiration. To have that much trust in your ability to control something -- with such precision and accuracy -- boggles my keep-my-feet-on-the-ground kind of mind. Having the ability to maintain your composer and skills while defying gravity, and feeling such a force against your physical being is a marvel. People can do amazing things. People are amazing! 

On Saturday, we had the chance to go and see such a display of amazing awesomeness. My parents came to visit for the weekend, and we did not really have any plans. I checked the news that morning, and saw that there was an air show about an hour away. We loaded up everyone in the car and took off towards Mountain Home, Idaho.

When we got there we found that we had to walk quite the distance to get where we needed to go. It was hot, and Henry was really uncomfortable and irritable (more on the reason for that later). But we all made it to the airplane festivities, and we had a terrific view of the planes.

The kids had never seen (or heard) anything like it before. When the jets first roared overhead we all felt the thrill of speed and thunder that jolted through our bodies like a burst of electricity and excitement. I love that feeling. It is invigorating somehow.

While we were there I thought of Charles. He would have loved to fly an aircraft, or do anything that involved precision and speed. He wrote about his great desire to be a pilot in his journal, but he had a dream that he died while flying an aircraft, so he never pursued that dream.

Pursue your dreams! You will die whether you do, or not. But you will die happier if you reach for the sky!

I tried to grab a few shots with my camera while having one hand on Henry. Isn't it just astonishing how close they fly together? I mean... WOW! So inspiring!