A day for reflection

My wife and I boarded a plane this morning and made our way to Toronto to attend a friend's wedding this weekend. As is usually the case when we travel, I ended up with the window seat and my wife took the middle - she doesn't have to, I guess she just thinks it would be more comfortable for me and she makes the kind gesture each time; I'm not about to fight her on it because let's face it, the only thing worse than the middle seat on an airplane is a warm toilet seat in the bathroom.

During the last hour of the flight, the cloud cover that had blocked my view of the land below disappeared. I spent the next half hour just starring down on the world thinking to myself how small a space each of us occupies on this earth - sounds rather deep and philosophical I know, but it was a somewhat spiritual experience, not in a religious sense, but in a human-spirit sense.

Having lived in the Toronto area for 18 years, I am quite familiar with the approach into the airport, but today, it through me for a loop. Just a few days earlier, an Air France passenger plane had skidded off one of the main runways at Toronto's Pearon Airport and it has been closed ever since. Not thinking of this, I was expecting a normal touchdown when we suddenly banked hard left and headed towards the downtown core and flew out over the shores of Lake Ontario, confusing me even further. Then we banked hard right and headed back toward the airport. As we got closer to the airport, my eyes remained fixed on the landscape and suddenly, there it was - the wreckage from the crash of a few days prior. Three distinct tire tracks beginning from the end of the runway and leading into the gorge where the now charred remains of the aircraft lay were quite visible. It was an incredible sight - you don't very often see a plane wreck and my thoughts quickly turned to the incredible fact that not one person lost a life in this accident.

We didn't have time for any activity, other then the requisite shopping for a wedding gift. For supper, we treated ourselves to The Keg across the street from our hotel - and I mean treated, we ate like pigs. We're going to have to get some exercise in tomorrow because I'm feeling rather fat as I sit here making this entry this evening.

All and all, it was one of those days where while you didn't do a whole lot, you experienced a lot and the magnitude of my thoughts and experiences is becoming more clear as the day winds to a close. I like days like these every so often; there's nothing wrong with slowing down to 'smell the roses' once and while.