Dad wasn't living at home anymore when I got home. That's what I remember most about my first time on an airplane. I can't remember if I was nine or ten, but I don't guess that's an important detail. I flew by myself to visit my Uncle Phil. I was under the impression that it was Uncle Phil's idea that I come visit for a few days. Later in life, I figured out it probably wasn't.

There had been a lot of tension at home. Mom and dad tried to hide it from me, but it's not like I couldn't feel it. Tension like that is palpable, you know? When it's thick in the air, you feel it. It's like moisture. On a hot and humid August day, you feel the dampness in the air. It can suffocate you sometimes. So can tension. It clings to you and makes you not feel good, especially when you don't understand it. Sometimes, it can even choke you.

Uncle Phil had called the house and mom put me on the phone with him, which I thought was weird. He never asked to talk to me before, but he was really upbeat and happy.
"Hey buddy!" he said. "Listen, we've been exploring the farm and found some grottos I think you should come groovin' in. What'd you say, my man? Want to come groovin' in the grottos with me?"

Uncle Phil was a morning DJ on the radio and was up to date on all the slang, like "groovin'" and "groovy." My favorites were "funky" and "off the hook." He said all these things over Christmas when he came to spend it with us. There wasn't any tension yet then.

We talked. I decided sure, I'll go groovin' in the grottos with him. I don't think though, it was really up to me decide. It was predetermined that yes; I would be going. But this way I got to feel like it was my idea. Something tells me now my ticket was already bought before Uncle Phil ever picked up the phone out there in Wyoming to give me a call.

It was exciting to be going. It was a little weird that dad didn't ride with us to the airport when mom took me. He shook my hand goodbye at the house and off mom and I went. I would have like it if he had come with us, but he had stuff to do, I guessed.

Once I was on the plane, I wasn't nervous or anything. I had a window seat just like I wanted, so that was cool. As we taxied to the runway, I had an idea. There was something I wanted to try. When the plane lifted off, I unbuckled my safety belt. Much to my surprise, I floated effervescently into the air.

I was floating! I was actually floating! Everybody on the plane loved the fact that I had become a balloon! My fellow passengers had so much fun bopping me around. Everybody laughed. Everybody had a good time. It was the most incredible I had ever felt. Bop! to the front of the plane! Bop! to the rear! Bop! To one side! Bop! back to the other! There was no thickness in the air; nothing to slow me down. I couldn't stop laughing.

When the plane got to cruising altitude, I came back down. A kind lady in an aisle seat guided me back down so I wouldn't land on anybody. She was smiling so big. She squeezed my cheeks and thanked me. I went back to my seat and I stared out the window. The stewardess though, wasn't happy. She told me if I ever wanted to fly in one of their airplanes again, I was not to do that. She was mad, but I didn't care. I had the experience of a lifetime and nobody was going to ruin it for me.

The visit was a blur, but I had a good time. Grottos, I learned are small caves. I wished dad could have grooved with us. I wished a lot of things. I wished he'd been home when I got back, mostly.