The Airplane Ride

My childhood never strayed far from home. We hit every horse camp within a 50 mile radius, but that was as far as we got. We went to the coast once and several times a year we went to Grandma's house. We always drove. When we went camping, we sat four of us on the bench seat of the Ford. I always had to sit next to the driver and my knee would get munched at least a dozen times by the shifter. My point, my travel experience was minimal at best.

The summer after high school graduation, I was spending a lot of time with my friend Larry. It was one of those relationships where one person likes the other and the feeling is not mutual. Larry was fun, but really not my type. He ended up introducing me to Ducky a month later. And I am eternally grateful. He was working in a radio station at the time and when my shift at the worst job I ever had was over, I would go hang out with him.

On this particular night, there was a forest fire raging on the outskirts of town. The sunset had been brilliant shades of red and orange. The sun itself was blood red from the smoke. Nothing can compare to a fire sunset. The air was filled with the scent of wood smoke and there was a haze in the air. My parents house was safe, but I had friends who lived near or in the evacuation area.

When I got to the radio station, only two people were there. And the phones were ringing off the hook. So I jumped right in and answered phones, gave messages and helped out any way that I could. It was very exciting. Much better than my own job. I ended up staying there all night until the morning crew came in.

At around two or three am, the other person that was there had gotten a pilot to agree to to take him up in a plane over the fire. And did I want to go? Of course I wanted to go! I had never been in a plane before. Of any size. And over a fire. At night. So we headed out to the airport and got in the little plane and we were off. It seems surreal now, but it is one of the coolest experiences of my life.

We took off for the fire. You could see the emergency vehicles evacuating people from near the fire. The lines of tail lights waiting to get on the highway. The places where the fire was burning. The places that were already burnt were dark with just pinpricks of light where something was still barely burning. The bursts of flames as new trees caught fire. The sheer size of the fire as it stretched farther than one whole side of town.

And the heat pockets that burst upward bouncing the plane. It was a bumpy ride. No matter where we flew, there were air currents the buffeted the plane. Fires create their own weather. I had grown up hearing about forest fires. My dad used to fight them. But nothing gives you the same perspective as seeing it for yourself.

I don't remember how long we were up in the sky. I just remember the exhilaration I felt the entire time I was in the plane. I never had fear, never worried that we might crash, just relished the moment. To this day, I love turbulence, it reminds me of that plane ride. Some of the details have faded from that night, but I still get excited just thinking about it.