It's another cold, wet, wintry night in Sydney. I stand out on my balcony, rugged up against the cold, having a smoke. My view is of the roof-tops, trees and clouds. Off in the distance, to my right, I see the lights of a plane through the clouds. As I have an un-obscured view from my balcony, I can track planes coming into land for a good minute or so. I watch as the plane slowly makes it descent, the lights becoming clearer as the plane drops beneath the clouds and tracks its path along the harbour towards Sydney airport. Although I am not directly under the flight path, I can hear the sounds of the engines as the pilot both fights against the winds and slows the engines down for landing.
This is a scenario I see on a daily basis, played out in the skies above Sydney. And each time I wait for the plane to explode. It hasn't happened so far.
I find myself watching the flight of planes a great deal since 9/11. It has in no way deterred me from flying - in fact, I've flown more since I've been living in Sydney than I have ever before in my life. Never have I had these thoughts while on a plane, only when I can see one in the air. I have no fear of flying at all. But for some reason, I see every plane in the sky as a potential disaster waiting to happen.
Is it a result of witnessing tragedy, or am I just morbid?
Songs played while writing this entry:
"Tilt" Seduction of Orpheus
"Yesterday" Guns N Roses
"Marrakech" Madley
"Say It Aint So" Weezer
"Mars Needs Women" Miranda
"Boll Weeevil" Presidents of the United States of America
"Tilt" Seduction of Orpheus
"Yesterday" Guns N Roses
"Marrakech" Madley
"Say It Aint So" Weezer
"Mars Needs Women" Miranda
"Boll Weeevil" Presidents of the United States of America
2 comments:
An interesting article. I moved to Redfern from Manly 4 years ago, and even though I am now used to the sound of planes flying low overhead, my mother who also lives on the Northern Beaches gets quite tense when she is visiting and hears one. Sometime the jet engines have a high-pitched sound like they are straining, and she stops whatever she is doing and listens intently with a grim face until it has passed.
Sydney sounds so beautiful. I enjoyed reading your blog.
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