From Up Here
You should see the color version….
May 9, 2021
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[Editor’s Note: As it’s Mother’s Day and coming off a fuller-than-usual week, JDK took the weekend off to spend with Mom and recharge a bit. He’ll be back with Something New next week. Be sure not to miss Monday’s episode of This Show is All About You, when he will continue his monthlong look at Play, and stay tuned for an update on his upcoming new project….In the meantime, he left a note on my desk to share with you this week.]
Hi All -
I never sleep on planes. Ever. Doesn’t matter the flight’s destination or duration. I just love flying so much I want to take in every second of it. It’s not that I love the cramped seats or steadily deteriorating service or the overworked and undersocial TSA employees - I don’t. But I am willing to put up with all of that in order to fly and stare out the window the entire time (usually with headphones on to keep away the John Candy-like Airplane Never Shutups - or “JClans” for short). It’s a perspective on the world outside and below that humans have only been able to have for a relatively short period of time in the scope of history, and I find it one of the most serene and perspective-renewing experiences possible.
Taking in the detail of mountains and plains and oceans on clear days, or watching lightning flash in clouds below when flying at night; staring down at sprawling city lights in the middle of a Red Eye transcontinental flight, and spotting ant-sized semi-trucks moving slowly across interstate highways baking in the summer sun; looking as far ahead as I can for landmarks of coming home like Mount Rainer - and first seeing it from what I know is hundreds of miles away…
It all helps me put things in proper perspective life-wise, and it also never fails to deliver a needed dose of Wonder. As a result, I often end up moved to write when I fly, so I keep a notebook handy in case the words arrive. This poem came to me, almost as is, on one of those flights - one of only two (round trips) I have taken in this past COVID-laden year. What I saw outside brought me that Wonder and Comfort I so badly needed at the time, reminded me of the massive amount of Good in my life, and got me even more excited to see who was waiting for me on the other end.
Maybe you know that feeling.
Enjoy, and may you fly again soon.
Chins Up, Everyone - there’s a ton to see out the window.
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From Up Here
By JDK Wyneken
Everything looks the same as before:
Cobalt rivers run through
Dusty canyons and forested peaks,
Towns and hamlets dot the farmlands
And cities sprawl out like spider legs.
All those below are where they are,
As they are, living as they do,
As it’s always been and will be.
Plagues, politics, masks and manifestos
Can’t conquer mountains
Or obscure the moon
Or block out the stars
Like they can to the human heart
If we forget that we, too, go beyond the horizon;
That we, too, wind and climb
And dive and soar and sprawl
As true to our nature as the contours
I can see for miles from up here….
All the way to, and away from,
Where I know you are.
We are limitless,
Clear as this blue sky from mere inches
To thousands of miles away.
All the way up, then all the way down
Again, we find our way.
We always have. We always will.
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Thanks for reading My Sunday Poem. Here are some important updates from my past week:
Soul Book of the Week: A Runner’s High by Dean Karnazes. I’m savoring every page.
Book On My Nightstand: Icebound: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World by Andrea Pitzer
Best Show / Movie I Watched: A re-watch of Open Range. It continues to age magnificently.
Strongest Earworm Song: “Nobody Told Me” by John Lennon
Best Triathlon Training Moment: Destroyed my swim session on Wednesday. Best times ever.
Toughest Triathlon Training Moment: Arrival of shin splints. “Ice Man” should be my new nickname.
Favorite Hangout Shirt of the Week: This one. Because really missing my Hawaii friends this week.
Coolest Thing of the Week: Hanging out with The Incomparable Erik. More on him in a future post.
Thing I Know Now That I Didn’t Last Week: That GU-Chews are a gift from heaven.
Most Helpful Perspective / Advice of the Week: “Some can’t understand you, some won’t.”
Current Wanderlust List: 1) California Still; 2) Japan; 3) Vancouver, BC. I miss those hosers.
