Fly Away

Day 43 - Photo 43. For as long as I can remember...I've wanted to fly. Not in an airplane. But fly...like a bird. I used to climb trees in the woods at the end of the street. And when I reached the top, I'd imagine what it might be like lean out as far as I could, let go of the branches, challenge gravity and sail through the air. I never did that, but I imagined it.

For the past 12 years I've been in the U.S. Air Force Reserve, and the last eight as an aerial photographer...and I get to fly. Not like a bird...but in a plane. I don't actually pilot an aircraft, but that's okay. I get to fly.

This is an aerial refueling and when you think about it, it's sort of an absurd notion that two planes flying a couple hundred miles and hour fly about 60 feet apart and pass fuel between them. To make this photo I lay down in the back of one aircraft, that has a big pressurized window in it, look down on the passing landscape, and aircraft beneath us...and think about...what it might be like to lean out as far as I could, let go of the branches, challenge gravity and sail through the air.

I like to fly. I get to fly. Just like a bird.