Airplanes

Well, it's officially summertime now. The 4th of July has passed I hope you all dug the fireworks! I was on the rooftop of my building with some dear friends watching the lights explode from a distance all over Los Angeles. I had just gotten off a plane from Lake Tahoe/Reno where I went for a childhood friend's wedding. It was so much fun, I have never danced that much at a wedding in my life. Maybe it was the altitude. Or the awesome DJ. Or just that everyone was incredibly happy for the couple! Saw some old friends I hadn't seen in a while and the scenery and stars were really pretty. There was even snow up there in July....crazy. As I flew back to Los Angeles, I got a glimpse of the entire lake and all the mountains, it was truly heavenly. One of my favorite books is Yann Arthus-Bertrand's Earth From Above which is all stunning aerial photography.

I found this footage of the Wrights in Italy, the first motion picture footage ever taken from the air:

So it all got me thinking about airplanes and travelling, especially because I will take the long journey from LA to Athens, Greece in a few weeks to spend nearly a month there visiting with my whole family! I cannot wait. I always meet pretty cool people up in the air, or in airports, and I love to travel. Not just for the destinations but the actual process of getting there can be fun too.

And of course, the movie "Airplane" which I want to watch again RIGHT now because it is so funny. The trailer is awesome too:

Flying has always seemed like a miracle to me. I never take it for granted. In my mind it is easily one of the most definitive creations of the twentieth century (or even of mankind) in terms of what humans are capable of accomplishing. Lots of fears about flying too -- the idea of loss of control, etc. Even though in a city like LA we are in our cars all the time and that is actually supposed to be more dangerous. Anyway, we always seem to remember when plane crashes happen, or what people we have lost to crashes.

So I thought I would look at some of the songs about airplanes and flying too. Here are some of my favorites, or most memorable ones or just plain odd ones I found that I thought were cool:

This old Blaze Foley song "If I Could Only fly" put up against images of depressions was striking to me too, love the lyrics to this song:

What are your favorite songs about flying and airplanes? Where are you going this summer? Any exciting plans? I can't believe it is already July! Hope wherever this summer takes you, you are happy and safe and enjoying all the precious moments.

Yours,

Haroula