Monday, January 16, 2012

flying high...

It was just a normal Friday.
I was going about life a usual.
And that involved emptying out the dishwasher.
I glanced out the kitchen window...
and saw a plane landing on the grass immediately behind our house.
What in the world?
The pilot hopped out...
and then it all made sense!


Ernie.
He usually taxis businessmen around the country in executive planes...
and on his days off he occasionally plays close to home with smaller planes.

It was good day for flying...
so he popped by with intentions of taking Jeremy or hubby up for a sightseeing jaunt. 
He came to the door to see if either of them were around.
Hubby was at a meeting...
and Jeremy was not answering his cell phone.
Missed opportunity!

Since they were not about...
Ernie wondered if I might want to go for a short flight around the area?
Of course I would!
I grabbed a jacket...
and my camera (of course)...
and off we went.


I saw my neighbourhood from a whole new perspective!


As you can see...
the field behind our house made for a perfect landing strip.
As for the fields directly behind the barns...
one would need pontoons to land there.


We have several aerial photos of the farm taken over the decades...
always from this angle.

Jeremy and Broni now live in the farmhouse with their family...


...and we live on the 'back forty'.

Hubby drives to work.
The grands run across the fields!



We flew over the subdivisions on the hillsides...
where our other kids live.

Who knew that Cultus Lake was almost in their back yard?


And then we looped back over the city...


...and east to the 'green, green fields of home'.

We were just coming down for a landing...
as hubby pulled into the yard with his truck.
He was quickly trying to call me from his cell phone...
wanting to tell me there was a plane landing in our field.
What a look of surprise when he saw me waving at him from the plane.
Too funny!


It seems he never missed out after all.
Ernie offered to give him the tour from 'up above' as well.


A quick taxi down the 'runway'...
and they were up and away.

I got the dishwasher emptied while they were gone...
and then some.


Who would have thought a plane could land so smoothly on our pasture?
I had to think back to another time when I was in a plane that landed on a grass runway.
It was not so smooth!
The runway was in a remote part of Haiti...
and we weren't so sure the pilot would manage to stop the plane before he ran out of grass.
Next to the runway lay the wreckages of all the planes that hadn't quite made it!
We lived to tell if it...
but it was a scary experience.
That was decades ago.
As for now...
I had no fear whatsoever.


Thanks, Ernie...
for the experience of a lifetime!

Once hubby was safely back on the ground...
Jeremy heard his cell phone message...
and came out to see what he had missed out on.

He was too late for a plane ride...


...but Ernie put on a bit of a show for him as he left.


It seems he has way too much fun at work!

I think I'll be flying high all week.


A few hours after my flying adventure...
it began to snow.

The green fields...
and the brown fields...
and the red fields...
and the wet fields...
all look the same today!

Have a wonderful day.
One never knows what the day will bring!


27 comments:

  1. Oh, my gosh!!! What a wonderful opportunity. Love the pictures and love that your grands can run across the field. It was a great day for you wasn't it? (Do you know I have never been in an airplane?)

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  2. Wow! What an adventure! I'm wondering if I would have taken the opportunity. So glad that you did and the description of Elmer calling to say that there was a plane landing and then to see you hop out of it was hysterical. Has me chuckling yet. Sorry that Jeremy missed a chance, but hope that it circles back for him some day!

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  3. Oh I loved this post and thought how wonderful for your blogging friends to get an aerial view of your area.
    These are the stories made especially for bloggers and especially one that words it all as good as you do.

    Sorry Jeremy....but you have to admit...it made a good story.

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  4. What a wonderful day that was! So interesting to see your photos of the home and the farm....and how good that it all happened before it snowed!

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  5. What a treat that must have been - and all the better for being a surprise. I'll bet you're glad there was not upside-down flying or wing waggling while you were in the plane!
    This is a post to make and blogger's heart beat a little faster!

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  6. what fun! And what a great perspective up there :)

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  7. What an exciting adventure, Judy! It was so much fun to see your house and farm this way. You really are right at the foothills of those mountains .. so pretty!

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Thank you so much for your kind notes of condolence to me. They were very comforting and greatly appreciated. {{hugs}}

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  8. What a wonderful adventure - and such a beautiful place to live, snow or no snow!

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  9. What a cool post. I'm so glad you got that opportunity. The photos were terrific. What an adventure!

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  10. Great shots! You're braver than me.

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  11. You were flying high...and I'm sure it's just all part of a big set up plan for another HIGH this week.
    Those are the moments you will never forget. For once the blogger got the real story from a high!!

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  12. What a treat! What a fun friend! And what a beautiful love you live in.

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  13. What a treat! That's what you call "an unexpected blessing"! So, glad you took pictures...almost like going with you!

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  14. Look at you! How cool is that....and just before the snow fell.

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  15. What a lovely bit of serendipity! Gorgeous photos. I've been trying to place them in my not-very-accurate-map in my head of the area.

    You have way more snow than we do, but a few flakes are falling now, so we'll see what the day brings.

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  16. Reading that post allowed me to feel as if I left home! How exciting was all that?

    It was fun for me to see the aerial view of the properties surrounding you. Gives me a much better idea of the area you live. How blessed are you..


    Hugs!

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  17. Oh what fun to get this perspective of your house and farm and area. Loved all the photos. It was fun to show Dear. So glad you got to enjoy this experience!

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  18. Wow, that was a thrilling adventure! I would love to do it too. But while reading and watching your nice pictures, I felt like I were up there too.
    Interesting post!

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  19. This post proves what I've often heard "the dishes can wait". How fun to go on this unexpected little adventure. Loved the views from up there.

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  20. Fantastic! and that snow is soooo pretty.
    Cheers

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  21. What a fun day! My goodness that must of been something seeing that darling red plane land in your back yard!!! Wowzaaaa what a treat Judy, your photos were amazing. Gorgeous area, your farm and homelands are so pretty, it really gives you a good perspective from the air eh?

    I must say you are much braver than me...for some reason I fear small planes like that, Pat would of been up there in a heart beat like you and your hubby.

    And then...the snow, what a contrast, green pasture and then pure white snow...so cool!!

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  22. -clapping hands- Memories! Oh thank you for the memories!

    Years ago, my husband got his pilot's license and we owned a small plane. A Cessna Skyhawk... painted brown and white... 8424 LIMA, were the call letters...

    And we flew!!!!!!! Early morning was lovely. Mists rising. Not much traffic. (As in not *wall-to-wall-aluminum* up there)

    We flew to Providencetown and back, a family excursion in one day. And to visit my friend in NJ. And he took daughter, to visit colleges. :-)

    Then his eyesight began to deteriorate. Please tell your pilot friend that, when he saw 2 planes on Final... He knew it was time to "pack it in." -sigh-

    But he did it for awhile! We did it! Our family did it! :-)

    Thank you!!!

    And my thanks to Vee, for pointing me over here, to read this. :-)

    And I always said, I prefer a small plane to a big one. You are always looking for places to land a small plane, in case of emergency. NO such opportunities are all-over-the-place below, for a big plane. -grin-

    Gentle hugs,
    "Auntie"
    "The act of putting pen to paper encourages pause for thought,
    this in turn makes us think more deeply about life,
    which helps us regain our equilibrium."

    ~N. Platt

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  23. One thing for absolute sure, I never get bored with your posts!!! You have so many interesting adventures, that it reminds me of my early years with Nancy Drew books:) You make noodles and you fly in planes, and you look young at age 60...what a fun person you are to know, even if only via blogland. So thankful that I found your blog.

    Great air photos!

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  24. I enjoyed reading this story Judy and can agree that a flight like this is definitely "the experience of a lifetime". My daughter and I were headed to the ferry terminal on a city bus a year and a half ago , headed for the ferry to Nanaimo. A nice stranger offered us a half hour ride in his Cessna and after a minute or two we took a leap of faith and decided to fly. It was an amazing experience and one I will never forget but it got us in hot water in that my farmer was very upset with our hasty decision. He's never seen my pictures and we haven't talked about it since we landed safely in Nanaimo. I understand your delight after such a wonderful experience!

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  25. What a great story! Your friend Ernie must be quite a fun guy.

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'The ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it.'
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson