Turbulence

Ladies and gentlemen, please return to your seats and keep your seatbelts securely fastened. The use of the lavatories is prohibited at this time.

There’s nothing like turbulence to make you re-think your life, especially when it lasts for minutes that seem like hours. You are jolted with the realization of your mortality and how your life can end in an instant. And you wish that you never watched any of those “Anatomy Of A Plane Crash” documentaries on Discovery Channel.

A million thoughts flash through your mind in an instant. Am I ready to face my Creator? What was the last thing I said to my parents, my children, my spouse, my friends?

You start to pray, your knuckles turning white as you grip the handrests. Your imagination starts to riot. Well…at least, mine did. The office can go on without me. But the children….oh, pity the children. But statistically, a plane ride is said to be safer than a car ride. But what if I end up as just another statistic? Why, oh, why did I ever go to Bangkok?

Then out of the blue: If the plane crashes, will my D40 survive the impact? Will the rescuers manage to extract photos from my SD card? Ack! What will they think?

I took photos of people sleeping in the back of an overloaded pickup truck in Jakarta.

A weed that looks like an evergreen tree. (Oh, how I love my 18-135mm lens!)

My alpukat drink. (How can I possibly not take a photo of such a delectable concoction? Ice-blended avocado, made decadent with the addition of chocolate syrup…)

Oh, the humiliation!