Building an Airplane

-Erin-


One of my most magical memories from childhood is the day that Gretchen and I decided we would build a real airplane.

One lazy afternoon, we dreamed of how fun it would be to fly to Japan or Switzerland to visit the foreign exchange students that we often had staying in our house! We just needed a body for the plane, wings, wheels, and of course a gas tank. When we wanted to take off, we would take the plane to the top of Beverly Blvd. and race down until we caught air. Soon we would be on our very own adventure!

We feverishly hunted through the garage and back yard for the materials we would need to build the airplane. A blue rectangular laundry basket was perfect to sit in...we could just barely squeeze in together, but it would work. We attached some old boards to the sides to serve as wings, and tried to find some wheels to hook to the bottom. Our skates worked pretty well, but they had a way of flopping over, making the craft too unweildy. Hmmm...we raced around looking for something else.

Tired, we came into the kitchen where mom was working. Excitedly we told her what we were doing and let her know we would be off to Japan pretty soon. Without missing a beat, she offered to make us a lunch for the ride and asked us when we thought we'd be ready to go.

Energized, we raced outside to finish it up. All we still needed was a gas tank and some wheels. A milk bottle would work for the gas tank; we found an empty one in the trash. We were just one step away from completing the plane!

I started to get butterflies in my stomach...what would it be like to fly away from home? I imagined us bouncing along above the ocean, our hair flying in the wind as we ate our sack lunch. Where would we land when we got to Japan? Or should we fly to Switzerland first? Maybe we should let the Japanese and Swiss girls know that we were coming so they could meet us at our landing spot. Perhaps it would be a good idea to get their address so we could fly right to their house.

Soon we got tired and ran out of ideas. The only thing that stopped us from taking off on our adventure was the wheels for the plane and the gas for the tank! We decided to finish it another day. Maybe it doesn't sound so bad to eat dinner in our own snug little house tonight.