Other Birds in the Sky

This time of year our skies are shared with not only birds of flight, but other means of flight. Jets, planes, helicopters. Beginning in May, air traffic becomes quite congested. By no means as chaotic as Chicago O'hare, but quite interesting. 

Our town is home to an air force base. It is shared with our local airport. This time of year the U.S. Air Force decides they have spring fever and thus must make their pilots train mercilessly at all hours of the day. 

I've decided I could never be a U.S. Air Force pilot. One, I do not care to fly, second, speed of light scares me, and third, my stomach cannot even handle a children's roller coaster. 

This is how my sky looked yesterday. Gray and boring. Except for this large cargo plane that seemed to laugh and tease everyone around as it flew around, and around, and around for hours. 

I sometimes heard the theme song from Jaws as it flew up from the trees, circled around, then dove down to its landing depth. 

This is a huge plane, jet, tank, fuel burner whatever you may call it. It is hard to truly capture their size and share it with you. I do know there is one quite bigger than this one that will soon vacate our area and practice whatever they practice. Like flying as low as they possibly can without trimming off silos, trees, and rooftops of farm homes. So this one I like to call Jaws Jr. 

There is another plane similiar to this one, but much larger, and louder, and brighter. That one I like to call Mother of All Jaws. It is one that loves to fly over our home during the very early morning hours of say.......3 a.m. 

That happened last year. I will never forget it either. While sleeping peacefully in my bed alongside Yooper, dreaming of the last few days of freedom I have before school ends, our windows open to sounds of frogs and mosquitoes breeding, along came a roar. 

We have two windows next to our bed that face the north skies. It seems all air traffic like to come in from the north and fly over our home. I sometimes think our home is part of their land marked trail. What sounded as a roar also had lights. Lot's of them. Bright and obnoxious.  It woke us both up in such a frenzy. I swear we thought we were about to become a crash landing site. We would soon be splashed across every newspaper and television screen. 

Have you ever heard the sounds of a cargo plane's air brakes(if that is what they are called) in full throttle, see bright lights shining towards you through your bedroom windows at 3 in the morning? Do you know the horror that fills your body to see and hear this as this thing is heading straight for your bedroom?  We both scurried out of bed and as silly as this sounds now, ducked. Yes, we both ducked. I think I even recall Yooper yelling "Get down!".  This monster flew so low over our home and headed even lower towards the air base to land. 

What the heel had just happened? Was this pilot lost? Was this his first time flying? Had he no sense of height perception? Was he just coming back from the local bar? 

I will tell you this. What had just happened was probably one of thee most scariest moments in my life. Yooper too. In the morning I noticed a few more gray hairs sprouting from his head. 

So while I am happy that spring is finally here and there are so many signs telling me this, I am dreading the early morning wake up call.