For the past few weeks, I had been looking forward to yesterday's flight to Phoenix. Long a geography buff, I knew our route would take us across the Great Plains, the Southern Rockies, the Colorado Plateau and the low desert of Arizona. And all seemed well as we climbed east out of St. Louis, circled over the city and followed the Missouri River toward the west.
Unfortunately, we encountered thick cloud cover before we reached Jefferson City and this sheet of white remained below us for the next three hours, offering no chance to view the varied geography from 30,000 feet. Like a mariner stranded on a white sea, I searched in vain for a glimpse of terra firma. Finally, twenty minutes shy of Phoenix, the cloud cover broke, we descended across the Mogollon Rim and cruised into the Valley of the Sun.
Those of us who enjoy excursions into the natural world know that nature does not always cooperate. She takes no heed of our presence and has no need for our admiration. And fair weather is never guaranteed.
