Travelling in Air

I just travelled around thousand miles via air this weekend to some friends after around 6 months..

It was a one-stop flight.. and a pretty sunny day atleast in most parts. My first flight started off a little later than the scheduled time due to technical snag (I guess a common thing with US Airways, I have seen it on 5 out of 7 flights I have taken) . But as it started off, I began to admire how Dallas Area looks from above.. Just one patch of buildings..nah Skyscrapers .. and only in that little patch of land..rest all flattened out, some lines ,some squares in yellow or brick red, slightly green at some places , it was a beauty to be beheld.. The Football grounds in bright green stood out various places in the view.. I know this view can be seen in wikimapia.org but looking at a picture and a real one is different..
As the plane rose higher, the view started vanishing and after few minutes of turbulence, we were on a white sheet of clouds. .No. it wasnt a sheet.. it was as if cotton was stuffed down there.. or may be white buddhi ke baal (candy floss) just kept there with covers removed.. After I while I got engrossed with the book in my hand "Vapurjha" . Its a collection of excerpts from a Marathi writer Va Pu Kale. His writings are pretty straightforward and realistic .. and more about this book or writings some day later.. As Charlotte, NC was nearing , and the plane started its descent, a different part of the country started getting visible.. lot of green , more of red , black lines and dots - more dots than lines, different hues of water bodies and to top it off, little pieces of clouds floating out of nowhere.. It was like seeing the foam of washing powder spread by little child over a dark hued carpet.. As I was savoring that view, the plane soon landed and I realised that I was about to miss my next flight.. So as soon as I got down the plane, the quest to the next gate started.. I also realised that there was an elderly couple - should be in their 60-70s - were also rushing for the same flight.. by the time we reached there, the flight had already taken off. We then found ourselves talking out at the rebooking queue.. We got the next flight for after 2 hours and that flight was again another end of the airport.. Well the old lady then asked for assistance and preferred to go by the airport vehicle with her husband.
On the next flight, as it took off, I was again looking out of the window at the foam design for sometime then back to my book and i dozed off..
When I was up the sun was shining brightly and the clouds had risen up from the cotton candy level.. we were descending towards our destination airport.. I was again mesmerized with the passing clouds and was watching it under the shade of my book as the sun blinded my view.. Suddenly, the guy behind me pulled down the window and said "Here you are !" I was so angry at the point and thought "Mr Agavu, I was enjoying it the way I was looking at it !" Obviously he wouldnt have understood Agavu which is typical marathi word for Overenthusiastic.. and then i realised , the sun might be actually disturbing to him as well or atleast his intentions were to ease my efforts of holding the book against the window.. But then I lost my interest in the view .. Slowly we descended out of the clouds in the rain, and as the speed of the plane reduced .. the water stream on the window pane which started with a slant, reduced the angle with the window to zero and stream could be identified into successive droplets..
Out on the airport, picked my luggage and then the rental car, next in plan was to drive to my friend's place.. After a few wrong exits, finally got on to the right highway and then slowed down with the traffic :-) By the time I had reached, it was 12 hours since I had started from my place.. and I was one timezone away..

The journey was quite good, when I compared to my Roomie's .. We had started at the same time, and the first part of delay in first flight.. But unfortunately for her, her next flight ws flight to India and she missed that by hours .. and the next flight they put her on is 24 hours later.. Even as I am writing this, she is still in US when she was supposed to be in India.. I wish her a safe flight ahead and overall a great trip as she would be seeing her Husband and son after a span of 6 months..