Orcas Island
Today, it was beautiful here. Perfect flying weather. Light cirrus, high high high. All the mountains crisp on each horizon - the Olympics, the Cascades, Mt. Rainier. My friend John, the one who trains Cirrus pilots, grabbed me and my buddy Sloane, stuffed us in a friend’s Cirrus SR-22 and we played in the sky for awhile (smoothest stall recoveries I’ve ever experienced in my memory), flew around the San Juan Islands and then landed out at Orcas Island (the civil airport there is indeed public). We had the most awesome dinner in East Sound (walking distance from airport - follow the deer trails) at the New Leaf Café in the Outlook Inn. Red pepper ale soup, a salad with cinnamon-candied-walnuts pears and beets, the most divine mushroom-salty-cheese-heart-warming-risotto, rooibos tea, some great local reisling (for me), pumpkin bread pudding and a chocolate almond torte with cardamom whip that made us all close our eyes in ecstasy.
Oh, the sunset. Oh, the clouds. Cygnus above the dark island and happy memories of Kris showing her him to me for the first time. Oh, the night flying. Happy memories of Matt.
I could almost believe in that benevolent God people talk about on days like this, but instead I believe in the extraordinary capacity of the human heart to interpret simple, fundamental beauty in the mundane, and I leave the love of God to my faithful friends.
We sat over dinner talking about how it’s the small things that matter most - that in taking them for granted, we become these angry bitter little people. And in taking nothing for granted, we are free and clear. Rivets are a beautiful thing. Grass is a beautiful thing. You know what I mean?
Oh, the sunset. Oh, the clouds. Cygnus above the dark island and happy memories of Kris showing her him to me for the first time. Oh, the night flying. Happy memories of Matt.
I could almost believe in that benevolent God people talk about on days like this, but instead I believe in the extraordinary capacity of the human heart to interpret simple, fundamental beauty in the mundane, and I leave the love of God to my faithful friends.
We sat over dinner talking about how it’s the small things that matter most - that in taking them for granted, we become these angry bitter little people. And in taking nothing for granted, we are free and clear. Rivets are a beautiful thing. Grass is a beautiful thing. You know what I mean?