EPISODE 11 FLYING HIGH

They called my flight. My baggage had already been put on the plane for the second lag of my flight. I was in the Calgary airport and heading to Lethbridge. My first sight of the plane was breathtaking: that movie with Mel Gibson flying a small, dangerous plane came into my head. This was like a six-seater with a bit of rust on one wing. I was excited to be out of the terminal and on my way. It would be a short flight (about 20 minutes, as I recall) and then I would be seeing my brother and sister for the first time. As we boarded the plane, we were greeted by pilot and co-pilot and any trepidation I had vanished. These guys were handsome! Gave me a sense of being in good hands (so to speak). After we were all seated, the pilot told us that, if we wanted, after we were in the air, we could come up front and see what they do. Personally, I wasn’t moving an inch from where I sat and my seatbelt would remain firmly attached. There was a lady across the aisle from me who flew this route all the time and she had reassured me it was safe. After all that security at the Montreal and Calgary airports, this was refreshing. We could see into the cockpit and through the front window. This flight was much more exciting than the last: There were patchwork fields of all colors and wispy clouds that we could see through. Then we were descending – no – we were on the ground! Apparently we had a good tailwind, according to the pilot as he and his copilot helped us down from the plane. Then the long walk into the Lethbridge airport. Long for me because, all of a sudden, I was scared. No flight in a small aircraft could make me this scared. What if they didn’t like me?