What’s wrong with this picture? Nothing, really, but it still feels odd.

Growing up in America, you develop certain thought patterns, and when something doesn’t fit the pattern it gives you pause.

I still remember – not long after the fall of the Berlin Wall – staying in a hotel in East Berlin.  The business center clearly used to be the Stasi office, based on the spy slits that still looked out into the lobby.  I got my mind wrapped around that, but when the clerk at the front desk called me “Comrade” I must admit I did a double-take.

I often visit American Air Force bases.  One thing I know is that when I pull up, I’m going to see a plane on a stick.  F-15’s are pretty popular.

So, driving up to Kabul International Airport it isn’t all that surprising to see a plane on a stick.  Except in Kabul, it’s a MiG.  I grew up during the Cold War, and seeing a MiG in the flesh, even if I’m halfway around the world, gives pause.

I still remember seeing rusting BMP’s in Iraq, and when you are used to seeing Bradley’s you have to think twice.  Many of those things were destroyed by armor piercing rounds, which means depleted uranium shells.  Based on the number of idiots I saw climbing around on those things posing for pictures, not many thought twice.

Flying into international airports, you often see Russian aircraft on the ramp; they all have shapes that are very different from western airframes.  Might be Mi-24 Hind attack helicopters in a military area, or Mi-26 transport helicopters, or any number of types of fixed wing cargo aircraft.

The fixed wing aircraft all have that classic drooping wing profile, and I find it haunting.  I first saw them in Baghdad, and if you watch carefully while passing by the cargo side of airports, you see them. 

This past Saturday night, I flew across the US, Los Angeles to Boston.  Certainly not the longest flight I’ve ever been on, but when you include security on the way in and baggage claim on the way out, you’re close to eight hours in transit.  It’s wearing.

So, rolling out of Logan Airport, at close to 10 pm, I was drifting while sitting in the back of the cab, eyes wandering out the window.

And there, on the cargo side of the airport, in darkness, was the silhouette of what looked like an Antonov An-124.  I just wasn’t ready for that.

As I write this, I have music playing.  “Sometimes the light's all shinin' on me, other times I can barely see.  Lately it occurs to me what a long, strange trip it's been.”

Indeed.