Exactly one year ago today, I was on a plane back home to San Francisco, some combination of grumpy and elated. I was exploring the possibility of doing some work with the RE-AMP Network and had made the last-minute decision to attend its annual meeting in Chicago. I was busy and stressed from other work, and I almost didn’t go, but I was glad that I did.
I had met many wonderful people at the meeting, and my mind was buzzing with ideas. But I was also coming down with something, and my plane had been delayed for several hours, much of it while we were on the tarmac, because of one of those darned Midwestern thunderstorms. I was tired and uncomfortable, and I just wanted to be home.
I am a die-hard aisle-seat person, but an aisle seat wasn’t available when I had purchased my ticket, so I ended up in a window seat. We finally took off, and about an hour later, just outside of Minneapolis, I glanced out the window and saw this:
I sat there, mesmerized, for several minutes, before I finally had the presence of mind to pull out my camera and capture this short clip.
As I watch it now, exactly one year later, I am reminded of how I felt and what went through my mind as I witnessed this. I remember thinking about all of the accidental circumstances that had led me to being there at that exact moment, how annoyed I had been feeling a few hours earlier, and how lucky and grateful I was feeling right then. I remember thinking how amazing it was to live in a time where it was even possible for me to be watching this natural marvel from 30,000 feet up in the air.
In a few weeks, I’ll be heading to the RE-AMP Annual Meeting yet again, this time in Detroit. I’ve had an amazing, special year in the interim. I wonder where life is going to lead me this time.
