{"id":260,"date":"2008-04-16T20:27:23","date_gmt":"2008-04-17T04:27:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.alexshapiro.org\/blog\/?p=260"},"modified":"2008-04-19T20:24:11","modified_gmt":"2008-04-20T04:24:11","slug":"fantasy-island","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alexshapiro.org\/blog\/?p=260","title":{"rendered":"Fantasy island"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

…listen<\/font><\/a>
\n…about the music<\/font><\/a><\/p>\n

Dream vista.<\/font><\/i><\/p>\n

So there we stood, the only two humans in sight. We were perched on the very end of a long dock in the early morning hours, staring out to nothing but water and little green isles. My gaze drifted to the sky as I searched for the tiny float plane that was to snag me off the island and bring me to Seattle, from where I’d then fly to Los Angeles. I didn’t need to bother looking up, since any engine sound would shred the silence. But look up I did, again and again, wondering when the plane might finally arrive. And wondering why I would ever want to leave this paradise. <\/p>\n

As my ride finally appeared out of the clouds Charles and I couldn’t avoid joking in goofy accents, “de plane! de plane!” And then de plane made a landing on de still water, much as a cormorant comes in for one: gentle… watch it… whoooaaa, lower, lower… splash… whoosh… glide…
\nStop. <\/p>\n

De plane was even smaller than I had imagined, and as Charles and I said goodbye I could tell that we were both silently making rapid assessments of the odds that this flying coat closet would deliver me safely. I climbed the ladder, squeezed myself into the seat and the ear plugs into my ears. Small plane, very loud engine.<\/p>\n

As I’ve gloated about over and over again in these pixels, the view flying across the San Juans is just incredible. Whatever quiet terror I feel about hurtling myself through the sky in something with a door slightly flimsier than that of an airline lavatory and a window made of thin plastic that boasts a ventilation hole I can stick three fingers through, well, that [rational] fear disappears when I look out the window. Small plane, fantastic in-flight movie.<\/p>\n

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