Niner, waiting

Cruciform tail
Detroit, MI, March 2007 [Click to enlarge]

The windows at Detroit Metro Airport (DTW) have an annoying dot-like treatment that does horrid things to pictures shot through them. I understand the need to treat these massive panes of glass so that the poor souls inside don't bake in the intense Michigan sun. But when my optics become stippled in the process, I take exception.

Thankfully, I seem to have found the right exposure settings to have salvaged this moment. I was waiting for my flight out to San Francisco after my long lonely night in the terminal (see here for background). I saw the t-tail of this NWA DC-9 (wiki) in the window and thought it painted a soft image of this place. I find airplanes at rest to be poignant icons of travel. When they're working, they're loud, agile machines that spear through impossibly high altitudes at near-mach speeds. But when they're down here, they're elegant in a gossamer-fragile sort of way.

I could have sat in this place all day, staring out the dotted window. But my flight was starting to board at the other end of the terminal, and I needed to go. But not before I remembered this silent, transitional moment in a strange place far from home.

Your turn: Do you try to slow things down while you travel? How?

One more thing: The person who brought me into the world celebrates another birthday today. My mom doesn't have a blog of her own, but she's been known to read the occasional entry here. If you're up to it, feel free to send her a happy in a comment.