More often, I think about how I should be spending my money on something
else,
or that I don't feel like being bothered with getting medicals or BFRs or
annuals on the plane. I don't feel like being bothered with the
Washington, DC airspace. I could start participating in other hobbies
like boating, horseback riding, motorcycling or restoring my old muscle
car, more than I can now. There are a lot of reasons why someone might
choose to stop flying.

For sure. Everything in life is a balance.

I've often thought about how the money I've poured into aviation in the last
decade could have been better spent. We could be living in a friggin'
mansion, we could be driving a brand new Mercedes, a brand new Harley, we
could have gone on cruises, toured Europe (back when that sounded like fun),
and sent our kids to the finest private schools.

On the other hand, I would not have experienced the utter joy of watching
the sunrise from 5000 feet, the satisfaction of spending many more days with
my dying mother in Wisconsin, nor would I have experienced the pride of
owning a fine aircraft. All those fly-ins, all those Oshkosh's, all those
Sun N Funs, all the great people I've met, and (not least of all) our recent
career change would certainly never have happened.

And I'd still be on the ground, gazing skyward, wondering...

When you get right down to it, we really like our modest ranch home, our '97
Subaru and '00 Mustang convertible are terrific, our '86 GoldWing runs just
fine, cruises sound boring, Europe sucks, and the schools in Iowa City are
some of the finest public schools in the nation -- so what the hell.

Flying is life. When I'm in the air, I feel alive, and when I'm on the
ground, I'm plotting new ways to get back in the air! Everything else is
just window dressing.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"