looking down

I remember the first time I flew in an airplane. I was very excited but I was surprised to notice fellow passengers reading or snoozing during take-off. I could not believe they would not want to witness the lift-off and the new and beautiful view of the landscape below. It was a landscape I had never seen before.
I still am stirred by the change of viewpoint that looking out the window at 30,000 feet brings. Everything is different. The cars are insignificant dots. The highways are lines snaking across an abstract plane. Our houses and farms no longer seem to be the most important aspect of space. It is a useful humbling exercise.
These images are what I have seen when I am looking down.