It was the night flight from Houston.
Almost perfect visibility.
You could see the lights
from all the little Texas towns far below.
And I was sitting next to a fifty-two year old woman
who had never been on a plane before.
And her son had sent her a ticket and said:
"Mom, you've raised ten kids; it's time you got on a plane."
She was sitting in a window seat staring out
and she kept talking about the Big Dipper and that Little Dipper and pointing;
and suddenly I realized that she thought we were in outer space
looking down at the stars.
And I said:
"You know, I think those lights down there are the lights from little towns."