On Top of the World

Lookout on Coopers Rock, WV

Almost 40 years have passed since I last flew the F-16. Sitting on top of the world was much more literal in those days. Exciting. Fun. Challenging. Clouds weren’t always my friend back then, lightening, hail, limited visibility, etc. I did love zooming in and around the little cotton ball clouds that may have been baby thunderstorms. When I flew the OV-10, the atmosphere outside was also the atmosphere inside plane so if I was flying in a cloud, I could smell and taste the cloud. Nowadays, clouds are usually a thing I only see from afar. Unless I go to the mountains.

I made this image several years ago at Coopers Rock in West Virginia. The day was rainy, sort of chilly, calm breeze, and damp everywhere. I was wet and worried about my camera, a Nikon, which was not weather resistant. All turned out okay but I probably rushed even though I had a plastic trash bag “protecting” the system.

I finished shooting and put my equipment away. I stood on this and another parapet for 30 minutes or so taking in the wonderful cool air, listening to the light rain in the trees, and enjoying the gray, comfortable light. It dawns on me now that I could have been on a boat dock, a sidewalk street, the back patio, and had all of the same sensory triggers…I think I’ll try it. But, without the view.