Happy Birthday! Four year anniversary of blog

[peacetraveler22]

Greetings from the USA! I'm reminded that today is the four year anniversary of my blog. On 27 August 2012, I published my very first story about my love for flight. There are a lot of words, emotions and thoughts. This is the only way I know how to write - in an expressive sense. I understand it's annoying to some, but I'm not the type of person who can ever accept the answer "just because" to any question posed, and I don't like people who can't articulate why they feel or believe a certain way. "Just because" - it's never an acceptable response in any situation, not even love in my view.

We must think about our choices in life, and understand why we are taking certain actions. This is not always easy or comfortable. It takes effort, self-reflection, and other scary sensations that most people fear, or are too lazy to battle. It's always simpler, after all, to just go with the flow. We are all a work in progress, constantly evolving, at least I believe this to be the case if you are truly living, and not merely existing.

I wish to thank all the readers who have stuck by me for four years. Many have come and gone, some of you I have had the pleasure of meeting in person, however most I know only virtually. Yet there is some sense of connection and recognition after sharing thoughts, views and opinions with you all these years.

I'm sorry I haven't written recently, there has been no motivation. I just returned from a wonderful adventure in Alberta, Canada and Montana, and in about a month will finally embark on my big expedition to the country of Georgia.

I wish you all a pleasant weekend! And thanks again for your support, loyalty, humor and always challenging me - on multiple levels! :)

Originally posted by peacetraveler22 at Gravelly Point Park Arlington, Virginia

Since childhood I've been fascinated by airplanes. Not in a mechanical or engineering sense, but for the possibility of exploration and human observation. To me airplanes represent freedom, innovation and emotion. On any given flight every human emotion is present. People anxious and excited to see loved ones, meet an important client, close a business deal or arrive at some exotic locale. Conversely, there are sad people leaving family or loved ones, tired business travelers and rude, grouchy people. If you look closely it is sometimes easy to see into which category a particular passenger falls.

There is an interesting and unique park called "Gravelly Point," which is located off the George Washington Parkway in Arlington, Virginia. The park is not accessible by metro and I doubt many foreign visitors even know of its existence. However, it is worth a visit because there is probably nowhere else in the United States where you can be so close to an airplane in flight. The park sits only a few hundred feet away from a runway at Reagan National Airport in Washington, DC, and even in the post-September 11 world it is completely accessible to the public.

I frequently visit the park and at all times there are people waiting to view the planes.



Now on to the main attraction. The runway in front of the park is both for landing and taking off, depending on the direction of the winds. Of all the times I've been here I've only seen planes land. As you can see, standing on the ground the belly of the plane is about one hundred feet above you. You feel the roar and power of the engines and the ground vibrates as the plane flies directly overhead.








Here you can see how close park visitors get to the runway at Reagan National.



The main draw of the park is planespotting. However, on weekends people play sports such as soccer, softball and lacrosse. Very nice scenery with the Washington Monument and other DC landmarks in the background.



The Mount Vernon Trail, a very popular cycling, running and walking trail, also runs directly through the park. Always there will be people riding bikes and families walking or having picnics, etc.





When I'm anxious or stressed I bring a blanket to the park, sit on a bank or rock ledge and admire the beautiful scenery. On this particular day the sky was fantastic with a mix of both white, fluffy clouds and gray, ominous ones. A very dramatic and peaceful landscape. Of course I got caught in a torrential rain running back to my car but it was worth it!!



If you are ever in the DC area please take time to visit this park. You can Google it by name and find images much more stunning than my photographs. The park is open at night and a very romantic date spot in my opinion. Bring a blanket, some wine or other beverage, and simply marvel as the lights of the planes approach and fly directly over you in the night sky.



Safe journeys forward!

Comments

[reon.livejournal.com]

Congratulations! You have fine blog!

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

Hello! Thank you. :)

[rider3099.livejournal.com]

  Congrats ! I love your blog!

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

Hi Olga! It seems I lack creative inspiration recently, but hopefully my motivation to write again will return. :) Btw, I recommend that you visit Alberta, Canada! It is really one of the most majestic and beautiful places I've ever seen!

[theodorexxx.livejournal.com]

I'm glad to see you! Did you leave your job ? In a week you will be "a new English teacher", won't you?

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

Thanks. :) The way forward with Georgia is still uncertain. I was offered the position, yet decided against it until I visit the country in October to see whether I like it, and am willing to live there for a year, so far away from family. But, the offer remains open. They need teachers, as I don't think many Americans know about this program, or perhaps they still view Georgia as some type of shithole, not sure. :) The people in charge of the program in Tbilisi will work to accept me for a teaching position during the winter term, if I so desire.

[nar-row.livejournal.com]

Four years... I'll be damned. :)

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

Yeah! Time flies when you're having fun! This is a common English expression, do you know it?

[tori-latvia.livejournal.com]

Congratulations, Shannon! :) I like your travelling stories very much.

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I hope you're doing well and having a nice summer! :)

[zhang-fei.livejournal.com]

Don't run away to Georgia, you can still make America great again, just elect the right person. Trump 2016!

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

I can't live without your wit and humor! It provides motivation to start writing in the blog again. :))

[nkhaba.livejournal.com]

Congratulations on the 4th anniversary! Hope there will be many more interesting and thought provoking posts to come.

Btw, regarding the 2016 elections mentioned in the comment above - if you go to Georgia to work will you be able to vote there?

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

If I decide to work in Georgia, it will not be until after January, or next summer. :) So, I will be in the USA for the elections, and there will be no problems with voting. However, I'm almost certain a vote can be mailed in, or processed, no matter where an American is on election day. But not sure of how to do it, as I've never been faced with this dilemma. Thanks for the congrats! :)

[alexis-nature.livejournal.com]

Congratulations! I read your blog. I´m a Russian. I am interested to know about the US and Аmericans from themselves.

Do you like airplanes. You're not afraid to fly them? I mean, all of a sudden accident happens.

Sorry for my bad Еnglish. I studied in the Soviet school. Then the quality of education was poor. :-(

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

Hello! Your English is not bad. :) I'm not scared of having an accident in an airplane. Statistically, it is much more dangerous to get in my car and drive in rush hour traffic to work each day. There is a greater probability of death in this case, yet people still drive every day, and don't think much about it. I think the main issue for people who are scared to fly is that they feel they lack "control", which is true to a certain extent. Our faith is placed in the pilots who fly the plane, and get us from Point A to Point B. :) But the same is true with driving, or walking. Our faith and trust is placed in other humans to obey traffic rules, and drive with care, so we survive in our shared spaces such as roads, sidewalks and zebras. :))

[qi-tronic.livejournal.com]

Like! ... where are my Facebook buttons of convenience? :)

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

:)) Yeah, FB is good, but this format is better for a lot of pictures and text. I just wish that the overall intelligence level and themes promoted on LJ would shift away from all the banal and yellow topics. It's depressing, esp. for a female writer, to see what draws the attention, focus and discussion of the masses. It definitely was not that way when I first started writing here.

[elena-88888.livejournal.com]

Hah! Congratulations!
Waiting for the next six years for the round anniversary :))

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

Omg! By then, I will be almost 50 years old! Scary. :))

[alexanderr.livejournal.com]

greetings from the golden US of A!!

and congrats on 4 years!

I always enjoy reading your posts, great fun

I used to visit DC every April, for the Cherry Blossom 10 miler, it starts and finishes near the Washington Monument

question: why do you think Washington Monument is so abstract? Should it be more like a man on a horse,
or something? He was a general, after all

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

Cherry Blossom time is the best time to be in DC! It's really beautiful, not too hot, and the smells are intoxicating. The bad part is all the crowds, but this is the price you pay for living in a nice, green and pleasant city. :) About the Washington Monument, well I must say it's one of the most phallic images to me. I drive by it every day on my way to work, and used to stare at it directly from my bed in my old apartment. Somehow very distracting! :)) I don't know the rationale behind the design...

[pani-yulya.livejournal.com]

Congratulations! I'm Yulia B-va from FB))) I don't know why I haven't commented here before))

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

Hi Yulia! :) I like your FB posts, photos and thoughts! I'm happy an intelligent woman like you reads my blog!

[e-g-o-r-i-u-s.livejournal.com]

Shaaannon :) You are a honest, very curious and observant personality, and this is what makes your blog interesting to me.

...I personally enjoy flying very much. I'm going to visit Latvia and Lithuania soon and I've discovered that Air Baltic flies between Riga and Vilnius using turboprops - and this is exactly what I always wanted to try: a smaller aircraft with lower speed and altitute which is presumably tossed with air flows more intensive than bigger jets :) Interesting! I immediately booked a ticket to this attraction.

Shannon, I've got a question unrelated to your today's topic. It is well-known that the USA is a quite religious country and for example an atheist cannot be elected president these days. What do you think about this last fact? Is it... "right" so to say or you are indifferent to it or think it is something that needs to be changed? Can one notice discrimination of atheists in any other sphere? Have you personally been discriminated on any occasion for being a non-believer?

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

Oh, the turboprops are definitely a unique adventure! It sometimes feels like a roller coaster, and they aren't meant for those who are scared of flight. Much less stable ride, and it's a bit claustrophobic in such a tiny space. I hope you enjoy the journey! :)

All polls indicate that the majority of Americans still identify as "Christian." I've never felt any discrimination for being a non-believer, in any context. I try to surround myself with tolerant and open-minded people. In the event people grow hysterical due to divergent viewpoints, I often distance myself. Life is too short to mess with such humans, as they aggravate your nerves and harmony. :)) This is not to say that I don't have friends, and even family members, who are much more conservative than me. I have plenty of them, yet they are still rational and this is the key difference. I'm not sure if an atheist could ever be elected President of the USA in the near future...it would be interesting to have one run for candidacy to see the outcome and public reaction.

Thanks for your kinds words about my blog, and my personality! Have a nice evening. :)

[allanyan.livejournal.com]

Congratulations on the anniversary! Good luck and good flights!

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

Another flight is only about a month away! It's always good to have something to look forward to, right? :)

[dorli87.livejournal.com]

Congratulations! I like your blog very much. Thank you for your work.

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! It is nice to hear that people enjoy my stories!

[rollson.livejournal.com]

welcome to Georgia!




and have a nice Airplane trip!

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

Haha! Hello, and thanks for the laugh! :)

[letberg.livejournal.com]

Thank you for your bright beam in this cloudy world.
I can share your community to airplanes for my father was a pilot, and I often flew in my childhood, sometimes in the pilot's cockpit.
By the way (about wine and beverages in the park), how the toilet question is being solved in your parks? Just not to be trapped one time. )

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

I try to radiate light in a dark world, for sure. Sometimes it's hard, though. :) About toilets, most public parks have proper WCs. In remote parks, and even some National Parks in the USA, there will still be portable toilets - something like in the photo below. There really is no issue with toilets in America - they are available almost everywhere. And for free. :)

[rise-man.livejournal.com]

Nice post :-)

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'm happy you read my blog!

[notabler.livejournal.com]

Happy anniversary! My blog going to be 10 years old in September sometimes. But I am so badly organized person, that I 'll probably will forget )

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

I am organized! :) But the blog takes a lot of effort and time - often I'm too lazy or uninspired to write new content here.

[anna-sollanna.livejournal.com]

Congratulations! I adore that your post about planes in Arlington!

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

Thanks! And thank you for reading my blog for so many years! :))

[yacc11.livejournal.com]

What is the airport? As I can see it's not the Dulles airport

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

This is Reagan National Airport. The code is DCA. I still remember all the airline and city codes from my prior career with United. :) You were very close to this park and airport when you stayed in Arlington.