First Flight In

Airline Flight City of Origin Time Gate Status
US Airways 1466 SAN FRANCISCO 6:05 AM B9 ON TIME

US Airways 258 PHOENIX 6:07 AM C27 622 AM

US Airways 1446 LOS ANGELES 6:11 AM A10 609 AM

US Airways 154 SAN DIEGO 6:12 AM C23 611 AM

US Airways 70 SEATTLE 6:12 AM B7 609 AM

US Airways 3345 PITTSBURGH 6:35 AM B10 ON TIME


My morning runs are generally done in relative silence.

What sounds there are, carry for quite a distance and with amazing clarity. There is a NJ Transit commuter train that comes by at 5:15AM which serves as my secondary wake-up call [the first being the subtle beeping of the Timex IronMan watch on my wrist at 5:00] as I can hear it from my bedroom, one mile away.

Once up, stretched, and out, it’s a pretty void landscape, soundwise. No one is up and moving outside in the development yet [come Winter, though, I’m sure many cars will be rumbling quietly as the idle at curbside in their warm-up mode]. For the most part, the only sounds I detect starting out are my own breathing and crunchy footsteps as I trot across the roadside gravel ... very, VERY Zen.

About fifty yards from The Pike, I can sometimes hear the clicking of the timing mechanism of the stoplight. Do I ever adjust my pace [read: sprint] to beat the light? Nah, NOT on the way out since it is pretty likely that I’ll be able to cross against the light due to a lack of traffic or at least jump the gap between cars; well, trucks actually, because most of the drivers I come across at that time are contractors on their way to their work-sites* or delivery people [lots of bakery trucks!!!]

If I take the route past D’Kid’s School, I’ll take a moment about the One Mile mark to say a “Hail Mary” at the Blessed Mother, and chat if need be. “Talk to Mom” is how I refer to it with my other Zen Catholic friends

More often than not, when I run on THIS side of Waterford Twp. [the “Fun” Side; where I race trains and get chased by peacocks] on especially cloudy mornings, when the wind is just right, I am aware of a low whooshing sound high above as I make my way on that last mile home. I will look up and see, in the high mist, a bright spot … sometimes The Moon, stationary and smiling at me behind her cloudy veil; but more often something moving along at a quick clip.

A glow becomes a beam; the beam pulls forward its source; the source morphs from a semi-geometric shape of lights to a fully realized object with highlights and shadows … An airplane … most likely “First Flight In’

I always feel badly for these folk; just ARRIVING in PHL long before dawn [I reckon there’s only about ten minutes of flying time left once you’re over my head, and it’s pretty dark “right now”] ... I’m doing the math backwards: When did they depart? Three hours ago, maybe??? So they had to be at the airport when? Five hours ago??? So they left home when? Seven hours ago??? I had just gone to bed, when they left the house to come to Philly.

That must suck

And yet, someone might be look out of their window as they make their approach turn to Philly and see a couple of blinking lights [my Team Tania blinkies], moving slowly past a NJ Transit train track in the dark, maybe in the rain, and think – or even say quietly to themselves ...

“That must suck”

*I’ve got a funny story about that someplace