Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Plane spotting

Eve has a new love. This time it is of planes and all engine powered flying devices. It started to show a little when we were in HK, but planes rarely fly over where we live so I didn't really notice this new obsession.

My parents live in West London and get a lot of planes, and my in-laws near Biggin Hill air field while the annual air show was on. Eve got a lot of planes while we were home. She is not very discerning in terms of which ones she prefers, although the 4 Chinook helicopters that flew over Hackney one day while we were there got not only her attention, but that of all of us because they looked so imposing. She just likes things that fly.

It goes like this:
- Eve hears a plane and points at the sky
- If there is no cloud then we all look up and Eve shouts "aipla" (airplane)
- We all look up, congratulate her, she smiles
- Planes moves out of view, or behind a cloud
- Eve looks at us all, shrugs her shoulders and says "no more"
- Repeat

The day spent at Richmond Park with my parents and best friend was a fine idea, not because of the deer, gardens or stunning views, but because it is right underneath the Heathrow flight path. Eve spent 4 hours gazing intermittently at the sky and highlighting the latest Boeing or Airbus booming past us.

Postscript: I have to admit that she may take after me in this respect. I know how to identify almost any airline on the basis of the tailfin (even some of the more obscure cargo ones) and my idea of an ideal afternoon is lying on Richmond Green in the sun, my pint of London Pride regularly replenished, watching the planes come in. At least now I know I will have company.

2 comments:

Dorset Dispatches said...

Welcome back! I missed you. West London is also where my parents live and I've also been known to stick the toddlers outside and shout plane at regular intervals. There usually is one...

Now, like you, I try to interest them in boats on the river, especially 8s. With my parents living in Barnes and when we are in the UK we live in Oxford, the river can be a bit like the planes coming into Heathrow.

Mummy said...

Eve has far too much of boats for them to be even faintly amusing to her. At 1 week old she watched her daddy race, and has been dragged to the river every weekend since while one or other of us ploughs up and down.

I fully expect her to rebel and hate all things water-based.