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Show 104 The television was playing the news. Something about a steam pipe explosion in Manhattan, but the sound was off and I could only make sense of what was happening from the visual image of ubiquitous white steam, the text running across the bottom, and the reactions of those around me. I couldn't tell where the steam was coming from, but since everybody seemed apathetic and since the news kept switching between this news and that of Michael Vick's dog fighting scandal, I determined it couldn't be anything too serious. But it felt strange to be flying into a place that regularly made news like that, where I imagined steam could burst from any surface, any time. When allowed to board, I staggered to my seat at the very back of the plane. It was 2 AM, but it isn't easy for me to sleep on planes. Part of it is the excitement-I enjoy the sensation of take-off and the new perspective on a city. Even when we're too high up or it's too dark out to see anything, I like watching the wing out the window as it glides through the sky. Sometimes I will nod off for twenty minutes at a time, but I have too much anxiety sleeping in the same space with that many people, even ignoring the discomfort of sitting in a straight-up seat with no leg room for tall people. So I watched Salt Lake City as we rose and thought about what it would be like to see Erin again. The city looked like it was smoldering, which reminded me that much of the west was on fire as we flew over it. Erin in New York When I walked out of JFK airport, I could see only faint concrete structures through the pervasive fog, as if the steam explosion from the previous |