Not to get into a Talmudic discussion of the tension between random decision-making (aka dumb luck), fate, free will, "the Big Guy in the Sky" and item 724 in the coach's Book of 1,000 Motivational Mantras ("we make our own luck"), but this shot was a result of all of those, minus the Big Guy in the Sky. I figure he's got enough on his mind to care about what road I take to work and whether I have the right lens on my camera.
I've passed this little hangar and grass strip many times -- for you locals, it's on Old 210 between Liberty and Mo' City -- but this was the first time I saw a plane beginning to taxi. I sped up (he was idling at one end of the runway), picked a spot, lowered the window and focused on space. Once the plane crossed it, I panned long enough for three shots.
To glance over that Talmudic discussion mentioned previously, let's just say I hadn't been on Old 210 in a while and I like the opportunities there for photos and peaceful, largely uninhabited country. So I turned off and hooked into "New" 210 where the old road ends. Sadly, I never got to drive the full length of the old route (it hooked into Missouri City's main drag, which pretty much consists now of a post office, a church and old brick buildings that once were stores).
It's another one of those "move the road, kill a town" stories you hear so much about. When I see that "road closed" sign where Old 210 ends, I feel a combination of nostalgia and melancholy for what once was -- and curiosity about what life was like then and what was in those old stores that are now boarded up.
I'm sure there'll be more here later about my fascination with airplanes. I figure it was all those World War II movies I watched growing up.
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