SHORT FINAL By DEB McFARLAND
It’s 5:30 a.m. and I have supper cooked. Soup beans, corn on the cob and cornbread. Directly, I will wake my young sleeping beauty, who has a vacation day from school. She will be shocked that there are towels waiting to be folded, a dishwasher that needs unloading and clothes that need to be hung out on the line. Such is life.
I will type out this column as quickly as I can because a wonderful phenomenon waits outside my doors to be explored. It is the seasonal occurrence called fall, and it has finally arrived in northern Georgia.
I have been cooped up my house for weeks. I have barely been in the sky, and the polish on my Lester is less than brilliant. Finally, the recent rains have subsided, and the weather folks promise at least of week of beautiful clear blue skies. I can hardly contain my joy!
Fall is my favorite time of year. The humidity drops. The haze of summer fades, and the light takes on a golden quality that makes even the dullest of objects glow. Fall is a good time to fly and a good time to polish. This week, I hope to do a little of both.
Today, I will have to juggle responsibilities to take full advantage of very minute. Supper’s cooked. Keely can handle the above-mentioned chores, but she has two school projects due this week. I need printer ink and a jug of milk.
Supper. Check. Chores. Check. Store conveniently located at the end of the runway where I can purchase both milk and ink. Check. Lunch at Wendy’s (also conveniently located on the end of 16) that placates the child. Check. A little Nuvite to aluminum. Check. Child works on projects in hangar at table. Check. An hour’s flight in a shiny vintage airplane. Check.
I think I can get this done.
AccuWeather is calling for a “sunny and delightful” day with wind gusts at 11 mph. “Sunny and nice” is good. “Delightful with a full day of sunshine” is even better. No greater promise has ever been made to a vintage tailwheel airplane pilot than seven clear and glorious days of sunshine and light winds. God does love me.
My husband may not after I drain our bank account buying avgas this week. But he’s not here, so like Scarlett O’Hara said: I’ll worry about that another day.
That he’s not here may cause a little friction between us as well. Work beckons. At least for him it does. I say work can wait. The sky beckons more. I have encouraged him to take a sick day or even a sick week. I’m sure there’s a case of elephant flu traveling about somewhere.
Personally, I would tell the boss I have a severe case of hydrophoby. That’s the favorite excuse my father-in-law has in his get-out-of-doing-stuff repertoire. I didn’t realize until recently that hydrophobia is actually rabies. Sound like a good excuse as any to me: “My dog bit me and now I have hydrophoby.”
Recovery depends on the amount of sun available and the velocity of local winds. I think that’s very credible. A poultice of Nuvite placed on the affected parts at 3,000 MSL for five days should cure him.
How simple is that?
Deb McFarland is the proud owner of Lester, a 1948 Luscombe 8E, and part of the “Front Porch Gang” at Pickens County Airport in Georgia. She can be reached at [email protected].