Vapor Trails

I took a drive yesterday into the Florida countryside.  About fifteen minutes from home and it was dirt roads and cow pastures.  What a pleasant relief it was from the drone of never-ending  Bruce B. Downs traffic.  I suspect in ten years there will be a new Bruce B. Downs cutting through the Pasco County countryside.  For the moment however, my concern of time lies above me in the skies.

  A blueness filled the sky.  Clouds were present but not noticeable.  This is because the sky was striped with jet vapor trails.  The vapor trails remained crisp and tight with the jets still in view.  As the jets disappeared, the trails expanded like a snake after a good meal.  The atmosphere encouraged the trails to linger and enjoy the day.  A casual glimpse above revealed just how many jets had been in the sky.  As vapor trails crossed one another, one wondered just how much time separated the flying time erasers.  This begs the question, how in the world is jet traffic coordinated?  And how is it coordinated around all of the other aircraft flying in the skies?

My thoughts today however, are on time.  Jets fly throughout the skies, seemingly in disorder and leave vapor trails as reminders of time spent there.  Are we as human beings not all that much unlike jets?  We blast through the day leaving vapor trails in the hearts and minds of those we intersect with.  As the vapor trails linger, our actions can be seen in the skies of those with whom we come in contact with.  Think about the time you are spending with people throughout the day.  Your impression, your vapor trail, remains on their faces and in their souls, for all to see.  Make your encounters meaningful.  Make your vapor trails linger.  Make them special for all to enjoy.

Comments

[Deb]

Thanks Dave for the reminder about our encounters with
other human beings.

Most folks keep it somewhat on their radar screens when interacting with people we know. The encounters with individuals such as a server
in a restaurant, or a cashier at a store, these are the times where we can make or break someone's day. All it takes is our mindful awareness of the 'vapor trail' we will leave.

Once again you have taken something so simple, 'vapor trails', and brilliantly
woven it into an unforgettable life lesson. Bravo !!!

As for the amount of air traffic in a day here in the USA. I don't think
it was ever so evident in the average person's mind until September 11, 2001.
On that day the first ever ground stop order in the history of American
aviation was ordered. All flights were ordered to land.

To view a graphic of the radar from that day:
http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/facet/3.Sep112001.gif

How many flights in a day in the USA:

"On any given day, more than 87,000 flights are in the skies in the United States. Only 35 percent, or just over 30,000 of those flights are commercial carriers, like American, United or Southwest. On an average day, air traffic controllers handle 28,537 commercial flights (major and regional airlines), 27,178 general aviation flights (private planes), 24,548 air taxi flights (planes for hire), 5,260 military flights and 2,148 air cargo flights (Federal Express, UPS, etc.). At any given moment, roughly 5,000 planes are in the skies above the United States.

http://www.natca.org/mediacenter/bythenumbers.msp

[Jessica Rebok]

Ok so make nice vapor trails when interacting with others but how on Earth does that explain the reason behind disorientaded traffic jet trails in the sky?