I've become interested in vision.  I don't believe in anything mystical in any way.  On the other hand, sometimes things happen that aren't merely normal experience as we like to think of it.  Here are a few vision experiences I've had--or fancy I've had.  They aren't important, earth-shaking capital-V Visions, but they have helped me see a little more clearly in my own personal view of life.

The most recent one was with a duck (opens in a new window).  It didn't lead me to understand anything, but it was sublime and and ineffable.

Another ended up with "Are you all right?" (opens in a new window).

Another is "You could do it just for the discipline," which is related to this next thing--

Right now I want to write about: Where to live and what to do with what's left of my life.
This is a little confusing, but it's part of what got me serious about flying--this little two-place amphibian.

It's sold as a kit--not too difficult to build, but takes about 400 hours.  Cruises at only 90-100 mph, which is rather slow, but lands and takes off in about 400 feet on land or water.  I don't know who that guy is, by the way, but I think the photo was taken in the Bahamas.

I flew this one in Florida last summer:

It was an article about this airplane in Kitplanes magazine that brought on a moment of clarity for me.  I suddenly saw The Place! I was looking shoreward toward a sloping lawn with this amphibian taxiing up out of the water, and I knew that this was it.  Couldn't see a house, although I knew it was just off to the left.

So it was a vision--not a Vision, not that important, but nonetheless a vision for me, one of the few I've ever been aware of.  It's interesting to me that it's so hard to hold to a vision, even to a small one like this.  I keep forgetting it.  Things keep distracting me.  I keep being tempted away by other things, and by sloth or complacency.

Not that I believe this vision has any particular merit or that it has led me to See the Way, or anything like that.  Also, I know that this airplane is far from the perfect plane--for me or anyone.  And lately I've been deluded by aerobatics lessons into wanting a plane that can fly inverted--and a lot of other things like that.  It's interesting--and silly, all at once.

Here's an update on the airplane vision:  I'm currently building one on the deck in back of the house. 

Here's an update on that update:  I completed the airplane years ago and have flown it about 800 hours so far (June 2009).

And here's a little video of flying it.  (If you like the video, please save it on your computer, rather than downloading it again every time you feel like watching it.  But please don't post it on any website.  It's copyrighted, and the music track is also copyrighted.

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