Holy Cow

34 FLIGHTLESS BIRD TAKES FLIGHT

This was the first time any of us had been on a plane, and while it’s true there’s not much leg room, especially for a large mammal, the miracle of flight is wonderful to behold. To see the patterns of the earth way below, to soar through white clouds as if they were the Spider God’s cobwebs, the bluer blue of the blue sky, the hot nuts-all firsts, and all amazing. When Shalom realized we were traveling on the Sabbath, he got upset for a while, then he claimed he was sure some of his relatives were being served in the ham-and-cheese sandwiches the flight attendants tossed to people like they were seals. At one point he dropped to his knees in front of the food-service cart, yelling, “Uncle Schlomo!” like a crazy person. He finally settled down to watching the in-flight movie, Babe, three times in a row, calling out all the inaccuracies.

“This movie is dreck, so unrealistic, a pig would never want to be a dog,” he scoffed.

None of the flight attendants gave us any trouble, ’cause everyone acts like an animal on a plane. We didn’t stick out at all. Actually, I think we were the most human-acting folk on this flight. The people were disgusting. You should’ve seen the bathroom.

My favorite part was watching Tom look out the window. He’d never flown. And even though he was flying in a metal tube, he was up in the air for the first time. Where a bird should be. For the first time in his life, he wasn’t an oxymoron. I could see him flex his wings with the banking and leaning of the plane, the ascending and descending, as if he were the one flying. I saw a tear run down his beak and that made me in turn have to stifle a sob. He saw me see him, and said, “Marley and Me, man, this movie always makes me cry. It’s got Thanatos, Eros, wish fulfillment, the whole nine.” I nodded and went back to watching Breaking Bad, season two.