I sprung the five bucks for Wi-fi access on the plane. Am I the only one who thinks that it’s incredibly cool that I can be connected to the Internet and track my flight progress by it in real time, at 35,000 feet? As I write, I’m about 100 miles west of Sioux City, Iowa. I can check my progress any time.
There may be no President who left a greater visual impact on the United States than Thomas Jefferson. His system of surveying and distributing land is writ large across our national breadbasket.
The guy in the seat in front of me jostled around and irritated me for about ten minutes. Then I noticed the beads of sweat on his forehead — he’s afraid of flying. Then I noticed him holding and comforting his (I assume) wife, who also seemed upset about something. Fear is irrational and uncontrollable. But your response to it can be governed, sometimes. Providing comfort to another when you are afraid yourself seems to me to be the definition of bravery.
Quick! Look out the window! Is Sioux City nice? They’re hiring docs out there.
Oh, I wish I’d have known to look closer. We’re now over northeastern Colorado. The land looks… fertile and productive. It’s fascinating and a little mind-blowing to see irregularities in the Jefferson grid and know that they’re there to account for the curvature of the Earth.
I miss my home state of Colorado. I assume you’re soon flying over–if you haven’t already–the Rockies. It can be a beautiful sight from the air.
I love watching interesting topography slide by underneath. Alas, thick cloud cover drapes Rocky Mountain National Park in billows of white today. I’m hoping for clear skies over Utah, my favorite state to enjoy from the air. [LATER] Curses! Thick clouds seemingly everywhere from the Rockies west. At least I have LOOG to amuse me.
Sioux City is pretty nice, from all I’ve heard. Not a great place for big city folk, of course.
Another thing I notice is that in Colorado, sections of land are farmed in parallel strips, relatively narrow as compared to the big quarter-section and full-section farms nearby. Colorado seems to have much fewer of the circular irrigation techniques going on, as compared to Iowa and Nebraska. Is there some difference in the water pricing or delivery that makes these different farming and land use patterns more attractive in one state as opposed to another?
Always relevant…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r1CZTLk-Gk&feature=youtube_gdata_player
If you’re watching where you’re at in the air on your laptop, and see the little blinking light go out, try not to alarm the other passengers. They’ll know soon enough.