' da plane; 'da plane...

Fantasy Island--Do you remember that show? I remember watching it with my parents vaguely. The part I remember is Tatoo yelling, “Boss, the plane; the plane!” Kids are fascinated by planes; M is no exception.

Yesterday I was running a little late to work, so I had PaPa pick up M and keep him until I got back into town. I arrived at MeMe’s and Papa’s around 6: 30 to collect M. MeMe & PaPa live on the outskirts of town just south of the airport. M & I were walking out to the truck when the ConocoPhillips shuttle jet from Houston was landing at the airport for the evening to drop off the Bartlesville passengers before heading back to the hangar in Ponca. M’s face lit up with glee. “Look, Mommy,” he exclaimed excitedly. “It’s a plane,” and he pointed his little finger up to the sky and followed the plane across the horizon. As I put him into the car seat, he commented on the plane and asked me questions repeatedly. His enthusiasm and the zeal with which he chattered about the plane made me smile. I drove down the street to the highway, and I made up my mind. The plane would not be departing for a good 15 minutes, so I drove the short way to the airplane so M could see the plane take off.

We turned into the airport and drove down the road to the ConocoPhillips hangar; I pulled into the parking lot and parked the truck and turned off the headlights. We waited patiently for the plane to take off and I explained to M what he was about to see. I cracked the window slightly so M could hear the plane engines somewhat but I didn’t want us to freeze either. A short while later, the blocks were removed from the wheel and the plane began to taxi to the end of the airport and turn to reach the runway. M’s eyes were sparkling with excitement; he chattered incessantly about the plane. He craned his neck so he could see the plane at the end of the airport, and at that point, we counted down.

5…4…3…2…1. No take off. Ok, we were a little early. After a few more seconds, the plane began to build speed and taxi down the runway until it lifted and took off. The plane rose into the sky and the eventually turned back West to head toward Ponca. I started to leave the parking lot. We discussed the take-off on the way back across town.

“Mommy, that plane was really big.”

“Well, not really, M. There are planes that are much larger than that.”

“The plane went really fast, Mommy.”

“Yes, the plane was fast, M.”

About that time, my cell phone rang. It was B. He hadn’t been able to reach us at home; I filled him in on what we had been doing and asked M if he wanted to talk to Daddy. “Yeah,” was his response. He told his daddy about watching the plane and how big it was and how fast it went. And then I heard, “You need to buy a plane for us, Dad.”

I wish! We both laughed at M, and I smiled as I told B good-bye. And then I remembered the Fantasy Island scene with Tatoo and my smiled widened. I ruffled M’s hair and told him, “Mommy loves her silly rabbit.”

I intend to take him back to see the plane land and take off again. I’m thinking we might just do that after gymnastics on Monday, and I think I’ll talk to PaPa about taking M to the air show this year.