I interrupt Patty’s account of her trip the Costa Rica to tell you about a minor epiphany I had yesterday morning while flying from Tortuguero to San Jose.

I spend so much time flying in small planes that I have become blasé about an experience that most people find exceptional, not to say exciting or even scary.

My normal routine is to read from the moment I get into the plane until the moment I get out.  Depending on the weather the scenery can be spectacular, but I’ve seen it literally hundreds of times.  These days I might look up for a minute to see whether Turrialba Volcano is erupting, but that is about it.

So flying back from Tortuguero with Yolanda, an old friend and a couple of guests in a 6 passenger Airvan,

When the guests gasped I almost

did not look up.

This is what I would have missed.

The photo taken with my cell phone is not nearly as nice as the rainbow and no big deal.  But for me getting shocked out of my complacency was.

My email signature ends with an aphorism that I came up with just this past March:  “If you live every day of your life as if you are on a wonderful journey through an endlessly fascinating, strange land—you are.” I should read it more often.

Vote for Patty If there is anybody who exemplifies living everyday, “as if you are on a wonderful journey…” it is Patty Chang Anker whose account of her trip to Costa Rica has been gracing this blog since the beginning of November.  Her posts also appear in her blog “Facing Forty Upside Down” If you enjoyed her posts, you should vote for Patty on Babble.com’s Top Mom Blog List: All you have to do is go to http://www.babble.com/babble-50/mommy-bloggers/nominate-a-blogger scroll down to “Facing Forty Upside Down,” and click on  

Patty is presently (Dec. 30, 11:06 CST) number 33 and rising.  If just 300 of the people reading this vote for her,  “Vacation Time is Precious Nation,” We’ll bust her into the Top 10. I’ll be reporting on Patty’s progress in future posts. One other thing, they don’t say when the voting ends, so please vote right away.