May 24 – “Day Seven: Up, Up, and Away”

Well, the temperature was way up to 57 degrees.  A veritable heat wave.  I was glad it warmed up, though, because the plan was to go on a plane ride with Larry as our pilot and tour guide.  On a sad note before we ever got started, though … Creepy the turtle’s GPS led him out of the yard and into traffic.  He became a speed bump while we were at the ball game.  Didn’t notice it until we left in the morning.  Sad.

So for the plane ride we headed out to the Hooterville Airport (actually it was named Moontown, but it sure had that small, small town feel), where the night watchman greets folks with a howdy from his miniature Harley.  Larry had us strapped in and in the air in no time, but not long after we took to the air we heard the one sound you never want to hear from your surgeon or your airplane pilot: “Uh-oh.”  Immediately he instituted emergency landing procedures, notified the airport of our predicament, and turned around.  We thought maybe the fire department and EMS might have been waiting for us, but then we remembered … this was Hooterville, er, Moontown airport.  Larry got us down with a perfect landing and there was … no one to greet us.  They had faith in him, I suppose.  Chris texted all our kids, I guess with her goodbyes.  Zakary and Caleb wanted to know if the emergency was that DadDad had to go to the bathroom.  Ouch.  Micah and Josiah had already expressed concern that we might get shot down.  Noa just wanted to “come in dere” with us.  Actually, the engine cover latch had come loose and the cover had begun to fold over.  Larry made it back before any crises occurred.  We were OK.  And no, I didn’t have to go to the bathroom.  Yet.

He had us back in the sky in no time, and we headed for Tennessee.  I have to say, that was the most relaxing experience I have had in a long time.  The soft roar of the engines from behind the ear phones made it almost impossible for me to stay awake.  We made it into Shelbyville airport in plenty of time to join a group of other small plane pilots for their weekly Saturday breakfast.  Great food.  And we heard some horror stories about some other near misses and almost freeway landings.

On the way home I actually got to take the reins.  Larry gave me about a twenty second lesson and said, “You got it.”  I at least kept us in the air for a few miles.  Josh is in no danger of my encroaching upon his air flight dream.  Once we returned to the hanger we met Larry’s mechanic.  He was in the military, involved in bombing the coast to prepare the way for an infantry attack.  Not in Iraq, though, or Afghanistan.  It was another battle you might have heard of … D-Day.  Wow.

In the afternoon we took a road trip to Noccalula Falls in Gadsden, Alabama.  They were named after an Indian princess who jumped off a cliff rather than marry someone she didn’t love.  Romantic.  There was not a lot of water, but it really was a beautiful sight.  As we left the parking lot we noticed Paul’s Mountain Meats, a very interesting looking store.  Larry turned around and we went inside to investigate.  It was just a simple little Mom and Pop place with some local flair and some antiques along the walls.  But I noticed a tiny little kids’ size Houston Astros jacket, so I had to ask the clerk about it.  Turns out he was a huge Astros fan.  He was also the faith and religion reporter for Fox news.  It was his Pop’s store and he was just minding it for his Mom.  Classic.

We stopped for supper at Larry and Diane’s favorite catfish place right on one of the little lakes in these mountains.  Very pretty spot.  Not bad food, for catfish, either.  Cornbread and cole slaw came with every meal, and even though the place was packed, we only had to wait fifteen minutes to be seated.  After the meal Larry took us on a winding road up and back down one of the mountains.  Lots of fun checking out the views and trying once again … unsuccessfully … to locate some critters.  All in all, I would call this quite the bonus day for Alabama.

Psalms 30:1 says, “I will exalt you, O Lord, for you lifted me out of the depths and did not let my enemies gloat over me.”

Father, thank you for flying with us yesterday.  You sure did some lifting of a different sort.  It was really reassuring when Larry prayed every time before we began.  Keep him safe on his future flights.  And please send your Holy Spirit to Seaside today.  We will miss the family.  Amen.