The Feel Good Way

You all know that I am a last minute person. I am not into long time planning, and everything that is further away then 2 weeks is too far off. One of the Argentine habits I just can’t seem to get rid off, don’t want to get rid off.

But then I break my own personal record of last minute decisions when I drop just about everything -without even looking in my agenda- to accompany my dad on a rescue trip abroad. He’s 85. We can’t expect him to deal with the problem on his own.

I have 15 minutes. 

15 minutes to (literally) run home and pack.

There is no time to check the weather. I have no idea what to take. I don’t know what work will be waiting for me, except that I might get wet. I don’t know for how long I’ll be gone. I grab a few things. Shorts in case it’s hot. Jeans in case it’s cold. Sweater for the cold. Flip flops. I run around the house like crazy while trying to figure out what to pack. Meanwhile I stay incredibly calm.

My dad is early. He always is. I leave him waiting.

A charger. My laptop. A hat. My Leica, of course.

15 minutes.

Time’s up! We’re off to the airport and into the skies.

I love flying. I love planes. Even if I am not in one, they give me a feeling of freedom. I have a window seat. My favorite spot. I put some music in my ears and stare outside, quiet, peaceful, chill, relax. Me, myself and I, and the wing of the plane.

“Tanto lo so che tu non dormi, dormi, dormi, dormi, dormi mai”
The song is an earworm. I put it on repeat.

A white round light flashes, and a second later a red one illuminates the wing, again and again and again. I find it fascinating. It’s beautiful. The wing seems thin, long and elegant from where I am watching. I dream away in my thoughts.

“Sarò lì a dirti che sbagli, ti sbagli e lo sa”
I love that song! I need to learn Italian, I really do!

And all of a sudden I see a large white light, not synchrome with the other 2. I wonder if it was real or if I have imagined it. Did I get too caught up in the song? It’s an interesting thought, but then there it is again, below us.

And I realize it’s another one of my favorite passions. It’s nothing less than thunderstorm. Ahead. Below. All around us. Or so it seems.

As I said, I love flying, I love planes, and I love thunderstorms, it’s more : I crave for thunderstorms. But if there is one combination that scares the sh*t out of me it’s going through a thunderstorm while flying. This is the only time I’d rather not have a storm in sight.

I realise that this is a perfect case of plus + plus = minus. Things that I love but just not at the same time. The thought makes me smile. I am sure this is not a mathematical rule, that I just made it up. I smile even more.

I am chill though. It is way too beautiful to be scared. I am just enjoying it. Until the lightnings stop coming, and it’s just the round white light and the red one illuminating the wing. Elegant. Sychrome. Repeat. Meanwhile Marco Mengoni doesn’t stop singing in my ears.

Photo by Ashim D’Silva on Unsplash