Flying East While Going West

We are climbing out of Jeddah at 3000 feet per minute, carbon fiber blades are spinning at 33,000 rpm hungrily consuming 200 pounds of fossil fuel every minute while it pulls gallons of air through itself to propel us forward. I glance at the center fuel tank quantity gage. It shows 1200 lbs. Engines are burning just under 6 thousand pounds an hour each now. Let's see, that should be about 6 minutes before I have to turn the center tank pumps off. I start the stopwatch, just to see if my prediction is accurate. Wow, I must be bored. I look outside and see single dots of lights dispersed randomly in mountain valleys. What would it be like to live there - far away from the city. What do those people think about? What motivates them? What makes them laugh or cry? What are they afraid of? What are they passionate about? How do they view the world? I will miss this place, when I leave. Even after 5 years I love to hear the prayer call. It's still exotic. I love to rehash inside jokes with Muslim men just by a word or a knowing smile, that reminds us both of previous conversations. We ask about our kids by name. We remember each others' upcoming vacation plans. We remember what makes the other laugh, despite the chasm of world view that supposedly separates us. I wave at the mechanic that comes up to greet us as we pull the airplane into it's parking spot. He points at his wedding ring and then lifts up two fingers with a smile reminding me of a previous time he was goading me to get a second wife. "Why shouldn't my wife get a second husband?" I had asked him. He had tried to explain to me how women's needs were different, etc. - all with obvious tongue in cheek. I will miss these guys, this land full of mystery and complexity. I will miss sitting on the floor with eight other guys eating out of the same plate of kabsa with our hands. I will miss walking by the carpeted rooms with shoes scattered around the doorway and looking in to see dispatchers and baggage handlers, pilots and managers all standing in a row, shoulder to shoulder facing west with bare feet and humble submission to their God.

Desecration

Thinking. Thinking about life. The colors of the sky during evening and morning. The coolness of morning air on my face. The miracle of flight. Technology and nature united, working together to perform a miracle. I'm thinking about all the hatred. All these people hating each other because of different explanations for the origin of time. Nobody is willing to say, "I don't know." But this fascinating life with all it's wonders and complexity is desecrated by their vitriol.