Standup Journal Magazine - Winter 2016-2017

In this issue

Searchin’ For Rainbows: Rapa Nui • Chile • Montana • Punta Mita • Barbados • Big Isle • Maui • Fiona
How well I remember my first flight on a jet airplane. It was 45 summers ago (please, no jokes about the pilot Orville and his flight attendant named Wilbur). I raced through my high school graduation ceremony. The party at my parent’s house in Pasadena went by fast.
I gladly accepted cash from aunts and uncles who shook my hand not knowing how immediately—as in dawn of the next day!—I’d be putting their generosity to work…ok, to play. With the airline ticket my parents gave me (for successfully staying alive for 17 years, I guess), my destination was Lihue Airport, Kauai, where my big bro John had a house and an unlimited supply of surf awaiting me. I insisted on a window seat. None were available, so in desperation I conjured up a minor fib about being claustrophobic—likely to hurl in Technicolor as soon as the plane took off. No way was I gonna miss a window view for 5 hours of flying.
I was positive I’d catch a glimpse of some secret, magic island, a whale, a dolphin, a shark or some weird creature on the wing like in that hideous Twilight Zone episode. I pressed my nose to that window the whole way, even though about all I saw was cotton candy clouds with the occasional glimpse of ocean. -Dubock