Flight path

   The following quote is printed at the start of the latest book I am reading (Passage to Mutiny by Alexander Kent).  It is attributed to an English poet, Arthur Hugh Clough (1819-1861).

Where lies the land to which the ship would go?

Far, far ahead, is all her seamen know

And where lies the land she travels from?  Away

Far, far behind, is all that they can say.

This quote puts me in mind of our recent flight from Seattle back to Amsterdam.  It was so interesting to have the map of our flight path as we soared high above the clouds at 39,000 feet on our journey.  That was my entertainment for the entire flight.  Take off from Seattle was on time at approximately 1 p.m.  From sea level we climbed up up up in a northeasterly direction.  Initially we could see snowcapped peaks far below us but they soon faded from view and the clouds took over.  We had daylight for about 2 hours.  Then we flew into the night.  Familiar names appeared on the map – Kamloops – that’s a name I particularly like.  I’ve never been there, in fact the only cities I have been to in Canada are Victoria and Toronto.

Kamloops, Revelstoke, Calgary, Edmonton, Alberta, Saskatoon, Regina, north of Winnipeg – on we went.  Hudson Bay, Baffin Island, Baffin Bay, Davis Strait, inching our way along toward Godthabn (Nuuk) Greenland.  Felt we were getting closer to home when we crossed over Greenland.  Then Iceland and Reykjavyk and we were nearly there.  Just the descent over Glasgow and the North Sea to Amsterdam.   A 9 hour flight, arriving when it was still dark but daylight soon to come.    Seattle and our loved ones far behind.