Night Flight

Norfolk (ORF) at night. (Click picture for larger view)

"So the crew fly on with no thought that they are in motion. Like night over the sea, they are very far from the earth, from towns, from trees. The clock ticks on. The dials, the radio lamps, the various hands and needles go though their invisible alchemy. . . . and when the hour is at hand the pilot may glue his forehead to the window with perfect assurance. Out of oblivion the gold has been smelted: there it gleams in the lights of the airport."
~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery, 'Wind, Sand, and Stars,' 1939.

This airport, this ORF is small in comparison to Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas or New York; yet is is mammoth in comparison to the small airport between Columbus, MS and Starkville, MS. On this night it's raining. Most flights for the evening have landed. We are waiting on my brother who has been delayed from New York. Perhaps the large major airports operate around the clock, but here the night flights are few and far between, the concourses appear empty except for the security stations, the food establishments are closed, only the coffee hut remains open....thank goodness. It is an eerie feeling.

Submission for PXITE topic "airport". (end of post)