Dad - the passion endures

Dad and I are sitting in the balcony over our evening tea.

It's a beautiful cloudy sky, we're sipping on tea and munching on peanuts and murukus......and dad says "do you hear it?" and I'm like "hear what?"

"The plane"

I heard no plane. I looked ......I saw no plane either.

I'm like "where daddy?"

And he points almost 80 degrees up......and I see this really really little plane, high in the sky..... and it's only after I spotted it that I could pick up the distant sound too.

I was simply amazed.

I was like "how did you even see it, leave alone hear it? it so clearly falls outside our line of vision. How daddy, how? how?

And dad, not even hearing the amazement in my voice is seriously explaining  "these are the flights that go from US and Europe to the Far East countries, they must be flying at about 30,000 feet.....see you can see that they are below the cloud line..... above cloud line is when they fly 36,000 feet"

I'm listening open mouthed, and before I can even process I hear " so tell me why planes fly at 36,000 feet"

me, tentatively " to avoid the clouds and turbulence?"

"yes and no, at that height the air is thinner, so there is less resistance and it means planes fly faster with lesser energy.... it's fuel efficient"

That was interesting to know, especially considering how often we've heard pilots announce the 'cruising altitude of 36,000 feet' and never wondered at why.

Above that I was blown by dad's following these flights. He said he catches them all.... imagines the pilots in the cockpit, the skyline from their view and actually watches them until they disappear into the horizon,".

The plane looked so so tiny.....to actually be tuned into catching those flights and enjoy them.... a clear tuning in by choice.

It's his passion for planes.....a passion that endures. So inspiring !!