Missed them.
Didn’t feel like fighting the traffic, especially since it was raining off and on during the evening leading up to the local show. Heard them off in the distance.
But, it reminded me of another fireworks show last year. No, not during the 4th of July celebrations. It was the middle of May (or so…).
As part of being a pilot, I have to maintain currency for day and night flights with passengers by making 3 landings within the prior 90 days. Being at about 80 days for night flights, I wanted to beat the deadline. So, invited my best friend to come along for company.
There’s something quiet (yeah, ironic considering there’s a noisy engine just a few feet away) and spiritual about night flights. It just feels like you own the sky (yeah, I still keep an eye out for other folks).
After I completed my mandatory 3 landings, we decided to just putter about the sky a little bit on my way back to the ‘home’ airport. Enjoying the stars in the skies…the random airplane lights in the distance…the lights on the ground…
My friend noticed them first. Fireworks in the distance. She pointed them out to me and we decided to go take a look. As I said, we weren’t expecting them since it was before the 4th of July.
This wasn’t just some yahoo in the backyard with leftover, cheapo stuff. These were really big fireworks.
Finding a safe, yet still close, distance away, I started circling. Fully expecting the ‘show’ to stop at any time, we were both thrilled to see the red, gold, green, and other colored fireworks blossom again and again. We circled for about 20 minutes watching this wonderful display.
It was a unique viewpoint. While we couldn’t hear a thing (one of the best parts of fireworks shows is being close enough for the reports to reverberate through your body), we did get to see the bursts from the air.
Finally, they stopped.
The beauty of the night flight got an extra bonus that night. I was very glad to have someone to share it with. And it obviously made an impression, since I still recall it.
It provided a needed reminder that the random and unexpected things in life provide the icing to life’s cake of adventures.
The Wilds of Ohio 