This Moment: At Ten Thousand Feet September 19, 2011 - 11:03 A.M.

All water finds the surest course to the sea. Giant thalo blue snakes wend through a wildly stitched patch quilt of farm land. The river's greenish blue complements the black, green, rust, and bleached tan squares of earth. To the left of where we are flying over, an ant community humans build for themselves abuts another ant hill cluster of roads and dwellings that look like tunnels visible on the side of a child's glass-domed ant farm. Cars glint like glass as we pass overhead. And then suddenly there is a respite of undeveloped land, and then a scattering of cities interspersed with more arid land. Like the cars, water glints hotly from the surface. A stream, most likely a river is a molten finger tracing an outline through the ground. Homes cluster near roads and tentatively spread outwards. Acres of tree-laden mountains appear with their hidden cache of lakes. The silver reflection of the water hurts my eyes, and I turn and watch my husband sleep with his mouth open. A baby cries and is hushed. The flight attendant asks drink and snack preferences. I return to my small oval to the world. A large crater lake, the remains of some long ago volcano is a vibrant blue with a filmy cloud of silver swirled stitching, like a vintage Indian sari trimmed with turquoise at the edges. The Captain announces, "Lake Tahoe below" and for us to keep our seat belts secure. The mountains in the distance are misted in a haze of clouds, like mountains from ancient Chinese scroll paintings. Directly below where I am sitting, a lake is choking a slow death of dehydration. A stream as thin as a hair meanders through the length of its desolation. My thoughts quickly turn from the despair below to the wedding vows exchanged yesterday under the warm San Franciscan sun. The couple stood before a circle of hot pink and white flowers facing a windmill Queen Wilhelmina gifted to the City at the beginning of the twentieth century. The sound of the nearby ocean filled the silences. I wept from the moment the music sounded, even before I saw the bride, and again during the vows when the two promised the extraordinary: To love each other. Always.