Just before falling asleep last night, Colter said, "Today was the best day of my life." (At 7, every day is either the best or the worst.) I asked him why, and he said, "100 years ago today, the Wright brothers first flew. And today, people recreated their flight." I deliberated for a moment, then decided he could handle the truth. "Actually, Colter, they tried twice today and both times, they couldn't get the plane in the air." He paused, thought, and said, "How many tries did it take the Wright brothers?" What a good question. We measure their efforts in years, not days, and attribute their success to their failures. Why not grant ourselves the same comfort?
« I'd like to schedule a Hallmark moment, please | Main | Spread a little light »
December 18, 2003
Comments
The comments to this entry are closed.
My friend Will, who is an aviation nut, wrote:
"As you may or may not know, the official recreation attempt at Kitty Hawk was a bit of a wind-out. Not enough wind that is. I think it has really suprised quite a few people, myself included, how incredibly unlikely it was that the original Wright machine flew succesfully so early on in its testing. The conditions of weather must fit such tight tolerances to make flying this machine even possible. Too little wind, and the flyer can't make enough groundspeed on its own power to fly. Too much and it will be going backward. It needs to be a steady and consistant 15-25 mph or no dice."
In other words... everybody needs a little luck, too!
Posted by: Robin | December 18, 2003 at 09:48 AM
Why not, indeed.
Lovely post.
Posted by: Kelly | December 18, 2003 at 08:37 AM