Racing the Fading Light

Fall is an incredible time to fly. In the Midwest and East Coast the leaves change color like a painter’s canvass below. In the Northwest, the sunsets are amazing over the hills of the coast range. Flying over the Rockies you can see the first snow. In California, it looks the same but with fewer things on fire below.

I rarely take evening outbound flights, but today is an exception. The flight schedules and my meeting schedules made a 7:30 flight sound attractive. The view from the plane is unbelievable, and we have yet to take off. I look forward to getting in the air on time and seeing the sun dip just below the horizon, illuminating the mountains just enough to get that last amber glow.

On a practical level, hour flights in the evening are tricky to get right. If you aren’t changing time zones, the question of food becomes important. An hour flight doesn’t typically have a meal service or even much of a snack service. Yet you spend time at the airport on either end and generally lose any chance of having dinner at a regular hour. Do you eat before getting to the airport? At the airport? When you get to the hotel? These are all things I try to avoid by taking morning flights. Going home I’ll take an evening flight when I know I have great food on the other end of the trip.

Tonight, I chose to eat before getting to the airport. At 7:38, I’m now regretting this decision a bit as my stomach is now groaning for a feast of some sort. I could use a protein bar, but this has its own issues. The bars I have are in my backpack, which is in the overhead bin because I’m once again in the first row of the aircraft. I can’t wait until I’m higher on the upgrade list and I can get a seat just a little further back.

For now, I’m signing off and trying to enjoy as much of the rest of this sunset as possible.

Sunset at the Denver airport