Two ends of a flight. Picture this.
1. Flying out of Miami International airport on a bright, sunny day, flying north, in a small plane:
To the left, smooth lines — the white strip of beach, parallel lines of orange and sand colored art deco buildings, fringed in green, green, green. Beyond: the muddy green-brown of the Everglades, stretching out to the blue horizon. To the right, bright blue water, shading to deep blue, out to the deepest blue where the sea meets the straight line of the sky.
2, Coming in to land at Cleveland Hopkins International on a picture-perfect autumn day:
A patchwork riot of color — green fields awaiting harvest, bordering brown fields freshly turned over for the winter rest. Pastel and Cotton candy-colored housing developments pop up in the midst of green farmland. Puffy clusters of orange, red, yellow, rust, and green — the trees are wearing their best clothes for my arrival.
It may have been warmer in Miami, but I could never move away from the excitement of autumn color. The view from the sky as we passed over the tree-lined Cuyahoga valley was… breathtaking.
I’m happy to be back home.
