Pendleton 5:15 am

Blue lights lead to white lights.   Looking down the runway white lights turns to orange then red.  The Cessna 9 passenger Caravan turns into the wind for take off. Two pilots hold the plane level  as it rears and   bucks it's  way to a higher altitude. The gate of chute 9 has just opened. Saddle strapped on this bronc I ride.  No crow hopping here. It's a full blown rodeo.  I think where are the "oh shit" handles on this plane. Tightly buckled with a shoulder harness and lap belt I move with the plane. Yet it does not develop a rhythm that can be anticipated. It bounces, drops, sheers and shimmies it's way to cruising altitude. It's not much better there.  Riding the weather front out of Pendleton. Going west this time.

I look at the farmhouse lights below.  Is that Whitney's place?  Are they still asleep? Did they stay up to watch the moon as the eclipse changed its color? I hear it was red, blood red like the oranges we ate in Rome; sweet as the blood colored juice ran down our hands .....Is that where Jon lives?.  He described the location of his house while we sat together on the bleachers watching our sons battle the defense in a lacrosse drill. Maybe those lights are his place.

The freeway was illuminated by orderly ants, traveling in a single file formation, equal distances apart. More going east than west. Still bucking and rolling we climb higher. I hear the autopilot say " 2 degrees right" and the pilots adjust.  Outlines emerge from the landscape below. Irrigation circles, wind generators, rivers and dams become visible as moon sets and sun rises. Here they come, the Pacific Northwest Volcanoes, part of the ring of fire. On the right Mt.Adams and  Raineer.  Could that be Baker far to the north? The rounded top of  St Helen's comes into view. Mt Hood is almost completely shrouded up in clouds. Places I have spent time....built memories...accomplished challenges of climbing.

Dozing a little then an abrupt wake up from a hard bounce.   Descending through cotton candy clouds looking so scrumptious I could eat them, the wheels hit the runway and grab it, holding on to firm ground, as glad to have returned to land as I am. 

It was going to be my fellow passenger  Shirley's first solo ride on MAX. She recognized me in the terminal from the Cessna experience, and asked me how to get downtown. Together we found all the essentials.  Coffee, restroom, ticket machine and red line to downtown. Another thing we discovered. ...We both have disabilities. In that we found many commonalities in our lives. We also discovered that neither of us are defined by those disabilities. 

What does define a human being?  Is it appearance, communication skills, education, children?

On the train I saw a grandma with three grandchildren  maybe 18 months to 3 1/2 . How scary I thought. What if that little boy lunged for the tracks. I thought her brave. And especially since she drove an electric wheelchair because she had no use of her legs. Is she defined for her grandma-ness or her disability?

Once my appointment at OHSU Center for Health and Healing is over I sit and people watch. What  a luxury. I see all sizes shapes ages and colors. One person stands out for being different from all the rest.  She drove by in a highly specialized wheelchair, controlling her direction by puffing into a straw-like control.. She has no arms or legs. She is nicely dressed and has a bright pink vehicle.  What defines this woman?

My new friend and I meet up again. She has missed her flight and now will be on mine. The discussion picked up with my Dr. appointment. I was feeling hopeful for relief. And to her I wish the same relief.

I cannot define her, I can only describe this sweet woman, her tender heart, her warm eyes.  And if she were to describe me well, she might call me "woman of many photos, videos and stories. But I hope she saw beyond that, into the heart of a woman who "despite it all" lives each breath she breaths.

Dairy farms are just barely  visible below. The plane is guided away from the river.  With the sunlight fading, the features of the terrain are not as visible. Colors blend. Elevation changes are not as evident. It seems as if the  landmarks I use to define this countryside below are now gone. Only in the strong light of self disapproval do we see defining qualities.  In the casual light of friendship these definitions go away

In the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ we will raise up and our bodies will once again be new.

Can't wait to ski and run and ride and play like a kid I once was...maybe still am...at least to Shirley. She calls me "kid".

Pendleton 5:15 am

Blue lights lead to white lights.   Looking down the runway white lights turns to orange then red.  The Cessna 9 passenger Caravan turns into the wind for take off. Two pilots hold the plane level  as it rears and   bucks it's  way to a higher altitude. The gate of chute 9 has just opened. Saddle strapped on this bronc I ride.  No crow hopping here. It's a full blown rodeo.  I think where are the "oh shit" handles on this plane. Tightly buckled with a shoulder harness and lap belt I move with the plane. Yet it does not develop a rhythm that can be anticipated. It bounces, drops, sheers and shimmies it's way to cruising altitude. It's not much better there.  Riding the weather front out of Pendleton. Going west this time.

I look at the farmhouse lights below.  Is that Whitney's place?  Are they still asleep? Did they stay up to watch the moon as the eclipse changed its color? I hear it was red, blood red like the oranges we ate in Rome; sweet as the blood colored juice ran down our hands .....Is that where Jon lives?.  He described the location of his house while we sat together on the bleachers watching our sons battle the defense in a lacrosse drill. Maybe those lights are his place.

The freeway was illuminated by orderly ants, traveling in a single file formation, equal distances apart. More going east than west. Still bucking and rolling we climb higher. I hear the autopilot say " 2 degrees right" and the pilots adjust.  Outlines emerge from the landscape below. Irrigation circles, wind generators, rivers and dams become visible as moon sets and sun rises. Here they come, the Pacific Northwest Volcanoes, part of the ring of fire. On the right Mt.Adams and  Raineer.  Could that be Baker far to the north? The rounded top of  St Helen's comes into view. Mt Hood is almost completely shrouded up in clouds. Places I have spent time....built memories...accomplished challenges of climbing.

Dozing a little then an abrupt wake up from a hard bounce.   Descending through cotton candy clouds looking so scrumptious I could eat them, the wheels hit the runway and grab it, holding on to firm ground, as glad to have returned to land as I am. 

It was going to be my fellow passenger  Shirley's first solo ride on MAX. She recognized me in the terminal from the Cessna experience, and asked me how to get downtown. Together we found all the essentials.  Coffee, restroom, ticket machine and red line to downtown. Another thing we discovered. ...We both have disabilities. In that we found many commonalities in our lives. We also discovered that neither of us are defined by those disabilities. 

What does define a human being?  Is it appearance, communication skills, education, children?

On the train I saw a grandma with three grandchildren  maybe 18 months to 3 1/2 . How scary I thought. What if that little boy lunged for the tracks. I thought her brave. And especially since she drove an electric wheelchair because she had no use of her legs. Is she defined for her grandma-ness or her disability?

Once my appointment at OHSU Center for Health and Healing is over I sit and people watch. What  a luxury. I see all sizes shapes ages and colors. One person stands out for being different from all the rest.  She drove by in a highly specialized wheelchair, controlling her direction by puffing into a straw-like control.. She has no arms or legs. She is nicely dressed and has a bright pink vehicle.  What defines this woman?

My new friend and I meet up again. She has missed her flight and now will be on mine. The discussion picked up with my Dr. appointment. I was feeling hopeful for relief. And to her I wish the same relief.

I cannot define her, I can only describe this sweet woman, her tender heart, her warm eyes.  And if she were to describe me well, she might call me "woman of many photos, videos and stories. But I hope she saw beyond that, into the heart of a woman who "despite it all" lives each breath she breaths.

Dairy farms are just barely  visible below. The plane is guided away from the river.  With the sunlight fading, the features of the terrain are not as visible. Colors blend. Elevation changes are not as evident. It seems as if the  landmarks I use to define this countryside below are now gone. Only in the strong light of self disapproval do we see defining qualities.  In the casual light of friendship these definitions go away

In the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ we will raise up and our bodies will once again be new.

Can't wait to ski and run and ride and play like a kid I once was...maybe still am...at least to Shirley. She calls me "kid".