Flying By The Seat of My Pants..
Friday, August 6, 2010
Last night, during a phone conversation with a relative, I was given flippant instructions. Nothing major or life altering; just an, off the cuff, comment that stuck in my head. Now some twelve hours later the sound of that comment still echoes. What on earth, "fly by the seat of my pants?”
Now exactly what does that mean? Are there pants out there equipped with a motor and propeller blades? “I think not and that most definitely would make my rear look big.” Oh, I get it, spontaneity!
I don’t know about you but yes, I’m all for spontaneity. I just want somewhat of a thought out spontaneity; after all I know my family. They tend to take picnics that empty the local ice bin just to get the food there. It’s a hillbilly thing.
I recall one such trip where we all went on an educational outing for my nieces. At the time they were being home schooled so a camping adventure to my Old Kentucky home was planned.
The planning included; food and activities but no planning was given to the campsite. We first were awakened in the middle of the night by severe storms only to be reawakened at the crack of dawn by some man yelling “Fore.” Our tents had been pitched right next to the hidden 9th hole. Spontaneity made me yell back, “Shank.”
Then there was the spontaneous wedding of Ms Twister’s sister. The thought was, arrive at a rental cabin in the Smokey Mountains, travel as a group to a wedding site and participate in a ceremony. Wonderful location, what location?
The couple to be wed had not selected a location and the entire caravan politely followed the couple for hours throughout the mountains searching for “The Spot.” The spot ended up being a cow pasture on the out skirts of the mountains that resembled the exact same cow pasture we had left at home. Spontaneity made me ask the bride, “You taking that cow patty on your shoes back to the cabin?”
Spontaneity? A little goes a long way with me. I do not mind just getting up and going but the Boy Scout in me says, “do some planning.” I have no idea where my flying pants are about to take me this weekend and that is okay.
I’m off to load my truck with survival gear and spare batteries for my flying pants.
A note on yesterdays post; I am so happy I have such like-minded people who read my blog and that the compensation of others has been thought about. KUDO’s to you! :)
Everyone have a wonderful weekend.
I recall one such trip where we all went on an educational outing for my nieces. At the time they were being home schooled so a camping adventure to my Old Kentucky home was planned.
The planning included; food and activities but no planning was given to the campsite. We first were awakened in the middle of the night by severe storms only to be reawakened at the crack of dawn by some man yelling “Fore.” Our tents had been pitched right next to the hidden 9th hole. Spontaneity made me yell back, “Shank.”
Then there was the spontaneous wedding of Ms Twister’s sister. The thought was, arrive at a rental cabin in the Smokey Mountains, travel as a group to a wedding site and participate in a ceremony. Wonderful location, what location?
The couple to be wed had not selected a location and the entire caravan politely followed the couple for hours throughout the mountains searching for “The Spot.” The spot ended up being a cow pasture on the out skirts of the mountains that resembled the exact same cow pasture we had left at home. Spontaneity made me ask the bride, “You taking that cow patty on your shoes back to the cabin?”
Spontaneity? A little goes a long way with me. I do not mind just getting up and going but the Boy Scout in me says, “do some planning.” I have no idea where my flying pants are about to take me this weekend and that is okay.
I’m off to load my truck with survival gear and spare batteries for my flying pants.
A note on yesterdays post; I am so happy I have such like-minded people who read my blog and that the compensation of others has been thought about. KUDO’s to you! :)
Everyone have a wonderful weekend.
Photo By: JayBird at Flickr
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11 comments:
It is definitely "Spontaneity with a plan" for me.
This was so-o-o-o funny. Thanks
Actually, the origin of that phrase was "spontaneity with a plan."
In WWI, there were no instruments in the cockpit to give the pilot vital information. When he found himself blanketed with fog and blind, not knowing up from down, left from right -- he had to fly from gravity's pressure upon his body.
"Up" would press down upon him. "Down" would be a momentary lightening of pressure on his butt to the seat.
So he literally flew by the seat of his pants ... sometimes with fatal results. (If you've ever driven for a long time, you know how numb your rear can get -- now, imagine having to bet your life on the "sensitivity of that numb rear?
Have a great weekend. And thanks for dropping by my blog and reading. It means a lot. Roland
I prefer planning - and no cow patties.
Great post have a wonderful week-end.
Yvonne.
Hee HEE!! Love your spontaneous comments! And that picture is just perfect!
Mary and Alex, I tend to agree.
Roland Thank you for the history, I did not know that and NO I do not want to bet my life on a numb rear.
Yvonne, you have the same please. :)
Tammy, I just say what pops in my head.
Thanks to all for visiting.
I've always been one who likes to have a plan. I try to meticulously plan out every detail and have back up plans ready. Sometimes the most fun memories come from the plans that go awry and have to be remedied by improvisational creative thinking.
Lee
Tossing It Out
I love surprises too...if I know about them!
My (former) work used to require so much plotting and planning, I have always preferred to just live in the moment with my personal life. One of my boyfriends used to have almost every moment of our vacations planned. It drove me nuts!
...Roland beat me to the origin's explanation, (damn that demanding dayjob!)
"Flying by the seat of my pants" is often times what brings about some of the best creations...just rolling with it...going with gut instincts...I'm sounding like a gambler:)
I like a good surprise, but I'm a planner. I even plan spontaniety!
And I love the explanation of the pants thing in the comments - I have been wondering about this expression myself but never really questioned it since there are many expressions in the English language (and frankly, in Norwegian too) that I don't know the origin of.
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