Flying Wishlist

Flying Wishlist

As a boy wandering in the Pennines (mountains to a small boy - hills in ‘reality’), I would look up in wonder at the aircraft trails in the sky. I would be even more excited when one was low enough for me to see and identify its type - usually a DC3 Dakota. Of course, I would try to imagine where it had come from; ( I was told by an older friend who new about these things that it must be headed for Leeds/Bradford) and what it must be like to need to travel such vast distances. It surely must be full of very special people.
Now that it is rare for a month to go by without my needing to fly somewhere, I’m particularly conscious of the saying ‘be careful of what you wish for’, especially when I have recently returned home and am watching planes in the night sky while walking the dogs. The gratitude I feel for not being airborne at that moment does not take the place of the excitement when the next trip is due.
The wishlist now extends to wanting seats up front! Only now it is not simply a list of wishes; it is a fantasy in the process of being transformed into a reality. I do not have an exact timeline for when this particular goal will be achieved, but I do know that all that separates me from it is time. My only real concern is to take the actions necessary to shorten that timeline.

Could life be any better

What's In A Name

What’s In A Name

I think we all agree with Shakespeare that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but I am constantly surprised by how many people dislike their own name. During my childhood, I myself would have gladly exchanged my parents’ choice with Julien - the eldest of Enid Blyton’s Famous Five.

When I recently discovered that some people attach a significance to names according to the number of letters, I wondered more philosophically about the importance or otherwise of our personal nomenclature.

In my own case, I have been known by different aspects of my given names at different stages of my life.
1. Birth to 16 Anthony; my mother’s choice and heaven help anyone who had the temerity to modify or shorten it.
2. 16-33 Tony; while serving in the RAF I would have needed more assertiveness than I possessed to insist on Anthony. Perhaps the only thing I have in common with our erstwhile PM.
3. 33-59 John; the approximate coincidence of my leaving the RAF and the death of my father allowed my new status as a civilian to begin with me being known by our common first name.
4. 59-?? I am now consciously moving toward my real purpose and identity, so hence forward John Anthony Vine the Yorkshireman Abroad.

Could Life Be Any Better