Flight, Clouds and Rainier

Yet another flight .. Check-in, security, boarding announcements, boarding.. slow..the line moves at a snail’s pace .. Smiling attendants.. I wonder if their cheeks hurt from those smiles all day long.. Window seat yippee!! Flight takes off.. all regular procedures .. then the Captain announces.. "Flight time is 3 hours 18 minutes .. we are expecting a lot of storms on the way .. so wear your seat belts and sit tight (giggitty!!)".. you listen with disdain and then turn your gaze outside the window.


There is something special about flying. Up above hundreds of feet in the air a layer of clouds separates you from the reality of life down under and you fly in a cocoon safe sound cutoff from all that is below. A layer of white serene clouds with shades of gray, crimson thrown in small measure and the blue endless sky above .. As you go higher distances diminish, things get closer and differences decimate. There is something nice about these white clouds that you see below, lumps of soft fluffy cotton thrown sometimes in patches against a blue horizon and sometimes stretching for miles trying to cut you off from the world below as if you are in paradise. I sometimes feel like getting out and jumping like a mad man in those clouds .. of course that is impossible but a fantasy :)

That reminds me that the topmost point up to which you can drive up on Mt. Rainier is also called Paradise. We got a chance to visit the place again this weekend and when we reached there the first thought crossing my mind was .."No doubt this is Paradise".. everything that you see around is white (snow!!).. the grand Rainier (Uncle Rainier as I call it), the surrounding mountains, the trees, the lonely visitor center which never seems to open .. Everything!!. What is it about white color that makes it look so divine and heavenly?? Maybe because it is an amalgamation of all the colors brought together, blends and encompasses all the colors and the emotions that we relate to them or because it resembles cleanliness, purity, peace, happiness, all good things...

Anyways that brings me back to the flight and the clouds, so looking from above they form a blanket over the earth, you at times get glimpses of the snowcapped mountains but not much and then appears Uncle Rainier in full glory standing up and above the clouds with head held high and no other mountain daring to match the splendor and the royalty that the Rainier enjoys. Those of you who have lived in Seattle know what I am talking about. It's not Rainier’s height that makes it standout that much but there are no other mountains around it that dare match it so it appears like a huge giant always overlooking Seattle maybe guarding it or who knows keeping an eye on it…

You are still lost in thoughts when sleep takes over and you doze off ..only to wakeup to the announcement that you are approaching landing unexpectedly much ahead of time with no storms encountered just minor turbulences… C’mon get your stuff and get out!!