Brandon Sterrett
April 3, 2008; 12:45 US;
The sun rose ahead of us about 15 minutes ago. I got video of the corner of the sun rise because we are flying directly into it. I bet that that is one of the most beautiful sights in the world. What I wouldn???t give to see what that pilot is seeing right now. I also saw stars for the first time from above the clouds. I have to say that they were not any more beautiful than they are on a clear Texas night. Stephanie???s bobbing her head up and down next to me. She???s wearing her sleep mask and has forgotten to put her pillow around her neck. If I thought I could do it without waking her up, I would put her pillow behind her head for her. I???ve almost given up on having enough French to be terribly useful, though I intend to spend the entire train trip working on numbers and a few other essentials. I feel mostly completely useless when it comes to saying anything other than ???What???s your name??? and ???Speak slower, please???. I can???t believe I am about to fly into Europe. I really never thought that this would be something that I would get to do, but here I am flying directly into the emerging sun and trying to catch the corner of a European sunrise from the window of an eastbound 767. The clouds are a beautiful carpet of white tinted by shades of baby blue. I hope that they will part just long enough for me to be able to see the ocean. There are tracks of wind through the clouds, like the subtle currents of a stream, but much broader. Just outside my window on the level of the wing there is a brilliant streak of color, it started as a deep pink fading into an even deeper purple below and has gradually brightened, revealing tangerine shades that fade to soft pinks, to indigo, to a light and majestic purple. They???re bringing breakfast out now . . . and not a bit too soon. It looks like we might be getting croissants. My stomach is already gnawing at itself; I hope they start serving us lowly economy class passengers soon. It is now 1:05 am US time and the sun has washed the horizon in a bright tangerine shade that is most concentrated in a streak on the horizon. The pink has given way to clear, sky blue and the majestic purple that so saturated the clouds below us is gradually relinquishing its intensity to the bright white of the clouds. I smell breakfast sausage, so it???s time to close my journal for the day