Stumbling upon a space shuttle

Where journeys begin
Cape Canaveral, FL
December 2010
Photo by Zach Levy

About this photo: It's a wet week in Thematic-land. If any of this confuses you - no worries, it's the story of my life - please click here to share your own wet perspective.

You're looking at the Kennedy Space Center, shot by our son from our plane as we began our descent into Miami. The thing in the middle is the Vehicle Assembly Building, where space shuttles - for now, anyway - are stacked and prepped for launch. To the upper left is launchpad 39B, which is in the process of having all its shuttle-related fixins removed. 39A is to its right, and as we flew over, Discovery was undergoing a tanking test in advance of its next launch, currently scheduled for February. The Shuttle Landing Facility's runway is peeking in on the left.

As ever, this photo has a bit of a back story. Zach had been shooting randomly out the window and noticed these neat forms on the ground. He grabbed a few frames before I peeked over his shoulder and had a mild-but-happy freakout.

Me: "Do you know what those are?"
Zach: "No. They just looked cool."
Me: "OMG, that's the space shuttle! You're looking down on their launch pads...Discovery is Right There." I punctuated that with a finger poke of the dirty plastic window. I may or may not have hyperventilated a little.
Zach: "Gee, I hope it doesn't launch while we're here."

I think we were the only ones who noticed, as the other passengers were either snoozing or watching their seatback screens. So he grabbed as many pictures as he could before it slipped out of view. We chattered about it for the rest of the flight, excited that he happened to be looking out the window at just the right moment.

I know that airplanes fly over this place every day. But not our airplane. Not when I'm sitting there with my kid. And in the context of our family's world, it was another neat event on a journey that had barely gotten underway.

Your turn: A moment you've shared with your kid. Please discuss.