I Want to Fly

 

I can fly, you know. Oh yeah. The Hayfamzone Blog gives me all the wings I need to soar to the literary heavens.

But when I was young I aspired to actual flight rather than the merely metaphorical. I hope you have read the installment of The Spirit in which the character Gerhard Schnobble had the ability to fly. (Will Eisner has been quoted as saying that this 1948 story was one of his own personal favorites.) Shortly after I first encountered that tale as a teenager I had a wonderful dream that I myself could levitate by holding my breath and waving my arms about. 

To this day I observe birds in flight with great interest, from Canada geese flapping their wings so strenuously to hawks floating effortlessly far overhead. I'll let you search YouTube for yourself if you'd like to meet the cardinals that live on the grounds of Castle Hayfamzone so you can observe them in flight with your own eyes. (All right already, so I'm a softie; the cardinal videos are here and here.)

A photo in The New York Times the other day brought this all to my mind because, in the picture, a man seemed to be flying. Really he was falling, not flying. Falling from 2400 feet without a parachute. If you're curious I can show you the article and more photos of this daredevil and even a video of his flight drop, but I don't want to jump without a parachute.

I want to fly.