When returning from a vacation merry, dispite delays in getting airy
The plane we boarded from Miami was very small and kind of scary
I was nodding, nearly napping, when suddenly there came a tapping
As if my wife was gently rapping, rapping on my shoulder sore
‘I must be snoring,’ I muttered, ‘Snoring on the tour
Only this and nothing more’
Ah, distinctly I remember it was not in the bleak December
But March and it was rather nice, but not as nice as it was before
Eagerly I wished for sleep, it had been a tiring week
And my shoulder was sunburnt - sunburt and awfully sore
From lying on the beaches on our cruise vacation tour
If only I could have stayed there forevermore
The tapping from my wife continued on as she continued rapping
And I awoke to see what she couldn’t tell me before
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I sat repeating
‘What the hell did you wake me for?
Just what the hell did you wake me?
Tell me this, and nothing more.’
She told me a tale of wonder, and I was upset with her no longer
‘Awesome,’ said I, ‘When can we peer outside the door?’
For to our right as we went flapping, flying to Richmond without stopping
Cape Canaveral we were passing, a shuttle launch right at our door
For indeed it was launching, a bright speck outside the door
It was awesome, nothing more
And as we watched the shuttle flying everybody felt like crying
For it was such a sight as one had never seen before
And as we saw the solid rocket boosters pop off and fall flying like roosters
I knew it was no dream, and I would remember this for
It was a beautiful sight to see and score
A YouTube video of it, forevermore
I’m not sure how far away we were. We were flying at about 34,000 feet (according to the pilot) which makes distances hard to judge. The sun was also setting and it was a bit hazy. I know the video doesn’t show until the end, but we saw the solid rocket boosters come off the sides at which point it looked like three bright stars in the sky.
I’d never seen a launch before and to be able to see it from that altitude where you can watch until it’s pretty much in space was amazing.
Man, this is one of the coolest threads I’ve ever read. The video… THAT WAS AWESOME! Very, very nicely done poem as well.
We were vacationing at Disney when the first shuttle flew again after Columbia, so we took the day off from the park, sat poolside and watched that baby fly. One thing seeing it on TV never conveys is the length of firey exhaust it leaves behind.
When I was a kid back in the 60s I remember walking in downtown DeLand and seeing one of the early Apollo flights streaking across the sky.
golf clap Very nice, Drygon, so well told I totally get the “almost crying” part.
Aw, thanks guys. I wanted to share the video and I had The Raven stuck in my head (does anyone else get poems stuck in their head? It’s harder to get them out than pop-songs…) so I guess it just came out that way.
I’m just sad that it’s one of the last shuttle missions. I was born in 1983, so the shuttles are the only space vehicles I’ve ever known. It’ll be sad when they finally ground them all. Like the old steam-engine trains you sometimes see sitting there rusting in the weeds.