The Gift of Wings

Aer.o.dy.na.mics:  Aerodynamics is the study of how gases interact with moving bodies. Because the gas that we encounter the most is air, aerodynamics is primarily concerned with the forces of drag and lift, which are caused by air passing  over and around solid bodies.

I spent this past week with my wife in San Diego, California.  We enjoyed a week with our son, his fiance and his daughter, our granddaughter.

Our son's apartment faces the San Diego Bay.  It is less than a half mile from the bay and less than a quarter mile from the San Diego's International Airport. His front deck affords a spectacular view of hundreds of sailing vessels and the only runway of the airport.  I couldn't look at one without seeing the other.

I enjoyed the company inside, but I spent a  lot of time on that front deck.  As I simultaneously viewed the sailboats and the jets coming and going, it occurred to me that the same laws of aerodynamics apply to both the seagoing and air-going vessels. In the case of the planes, the wings are horizontal and the lift is vertical. With the boats the wings are vertical and the lift is horizontal. The boats could no more move forward than the planes move upward without the properties of aerodynamics at play.

But it was neither the  sailboats nor the giant passenger jets that demanded most of my attention. It was the hummingbirds.  As many hours as I have spent enjoying watching these miraculous creatures, it was the first time I had ever viewed them while seeing and hearing jumbo jets in my field of vision and in my hearing.  The constant  roar of the massive jet engines in the distance was incredible. But simultaneous with this roar was the silent flight of a multitude of these tiny birds right in front of my face.

You might think the birds were intimidated by the lighting and thunder of those jets, but I don't think so. While the birds may have appreciated both the relative immensity and the noise, they had no reason to feel the least bit inferior.  "Whereas you can reach a takeoff speed of 170  miles per hour in a matter of seconds,  can you hover indefinitely in one place? I can.  Can you fly backwards nearly as quickly as you can fly forward? I can. Can you reach your cruising speed in a piece of second jetting off in any direction you choose? I can.  Although you can fly non-stop to South America on 60,000 gallons of jet fuel, can you fly non-stop the same distance on a few ounces of sugar water? I can. Whereas your massive engines sound like an earthquake, can you chirp?  I  can."

Hearing the turbines roar while watching the hummingbirds, I enjoyed imagining that it was the birds that were making all that noise. If their buzzing was magnified several hundred times, then how loud would it be? Ok, not that loud, but it was fun thinking about it.

All of us from time to time are intimidated by other people.  We see someone who commands the attention of thousands and think, "If only I could be like them.  If only I had more and could be more and do more. If only I had their talent, their money, their fame." If you are tempted to think that way then stop and take a quick inventory of your own relationships, gifts, abilities and resources. Put them in the form of a question and answer that question with "I can."  And if it makes you feel any better, then add, "And they can't" You may at times feel insignificant and grounded, but just keep moving forward and you'll be flying again before you know it. Aerodynamics is an amazing thing.