Our sweet niece the history teacher is visiting, and last night she asked about the highlights of our MeriTimes Adventure. It was a little surprising how many moments came to mind. Maybe like trying to describe an especially good meal or artwork: we tend to savor the whole rather than think about the parts.
Returning to where I left off reviewing our photo collection from the trip as she catches up on sleep this morning, memories rushed back from that Pittsburgh to MD flight. Like the discovery that Gettysburg is a town. You’d think ending in “burg” would have been a clue, but somehow photos from the Civil War gave me the impression of a solitary house amid miles of open fields. It would make sense that tourism would have created a town since then, but the beautiful Gettysburg College was used by both sides during the war.
8165 Gettysburg College
Our takeoff that day offered only hazy views of Pittsburgh and weather en route was forecast to be unsettled, so we had decided not to fly over the city for a photo better than this one.
8159 Pittsburgh Memories
At this distance all our memories of the fun we’d had there with Molly’s relatives, seemed to blend into one warm feeling in the soft air. Along the way we wove a circuitous path among clouds and small storms, with hazy air making it seem we were more part of the sky than of the green fields and small towns below.
0212 Cloud Dance
Approaching the Martin State Airport we were directed by ATC to circle over this small dam while some military jets landed ahead of us. It was fun to imagine the story of the dam and then watch the formation landing in the hazy distance.
8176 MD Dam
Reducing power to descend, the song of Tripp’s engine changed to a warm hum. Anne took this snap of the airport, and the mingling of air with water softened by misty distance evokes memories of being there as our story mingled with the generations of U.S. history and ancestral times beyond.
0215 Invitation to Memories
John & Anne Wiley 
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