The Magic of Flight

I was sitting outside yesterday watching the clouds make their way towards Palmerston North after a morning of wind, rain and sun all within a short amount of time.

The sun finally looked like it would stay awhile, so I decided to relax for a bit and enjoy the lovely garden scenery in the late afternoon.

Suddenly, I became aware of a hawk flying up above scouting for food.

It was great to observe the large bird swooping over the treetops and the pond area. I’m amazed it could see anything from that height!

The hawk was flying majestically with the wind under its wings. It knew exactly when to swoop down to catch it’s prey.

At the same time, I was also aware of an artificial kind of flying device.

Up above flew a big yellow aeroplane, which I presume was dropping fertilizer on one of the neighbouring paddocks.

It was taking the corners much less smoothly than the hawk, but with a lot of flair nonetheless.

Now I could observe both animal and machine in action at the same time.

It made me wonder how much we have progressed over a relatively short amount of time.

Nowadays we have the option to experience air travel as well as to keep our feet firmly on the ground.

I certainly have benefited from the fact that 28 years ago we could emigrate to New Zealand by plane (which took just 3 days), instead of the previous generation of emigrants who had to arrive here by boat (over a 6 week journey!).

— Miranda