Gulf of Mexico

Here I am flying enroute from Houston, TX to Orlando, FL over the Gulf of Mexico. All throughout my life, I managed to miss out on visiting the gulf – I grew up on the Pacific coast and enjoyed the beaches there, and a few times hit up the Atlantic for its lighter blue-green coloration. About two years ago, I finally reached out in Naples, Florida and took in the calm, greenish seas of the gulf.

I’m glad I did, because right now outside my plane is a plethora of lights in the sea, supposedly from boats that are being used in the effort to stem the oil leak from hitting the fair shores of the southeast US. Interestingly enough, it feels almost like I’m watching a game of Battleship – I see ships with two three and even four light beacons on the masts, the ships lined up parallel to each other as if they were arranged on a game board. I could almost yell out “C4!” but I think my fellow airline passengers would have a conniption with that.

Vic, it’s now dark and I’ve yet to see anything that I could attribute to a big fire in the seas – you led me on, man! I so brought the smores, too! ;-)

Update: It’s about 45 minutes before we land and there’s some real good storming happening off the starboard bow… high flying clouds with a lightning show storm! Sweet! Interesting that it’s the leading edge that’s doing the lightning…..

Update 2: Ah! I see the Florida coastline! I’m writing like 4 blogs at once so I can update everything…

I’m looking forward to this weekend. The Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf conference this weekend is always a good place to get a pulse on the hearing loss community. The professionals that attend are always up to date with the latest in techniques and products, the exhibitors get to show off their services and wares, and the throngs of parents present with their young children who have hearing loss are absolutely hungry for information! It’ll be nice to help make lives better by giving out information on resources and make connections with people.

I think that’s the most fun for me at these kinds of conferences. While I love to learn from workshops and exhibitors, and marvel at the sights and sounds of new cities, it’s definitely the connections and networks made that brings me back. Helping a parent understand what options their kids have, or an audiologist to learn how to help their patients, or even young adults like myself who just want to improve their lives, just gives me the best feelings.