Terrified

No, more terrified than that.


Well, that's closer.

The point is... We learned something new yesterday. We knew Zoë was scared of cars, but she's TERRIFIED by F-18 Hornets roaring over head a mere 100 feet away (well, probably 200).

Normally, the planes circle west over White Settlement and the lake. However, they are preparing for an air show. That means they practice turning left. So, every 15 minutes an F-18 would go by at about 500 feet. Then another two minutes later. Then another 2 minutes later. Then four go by at about 30 second intervals at about 200ft.

So, for those of you that don't know, just east of the air base is the building at which we attend church. We had our discussion in bible class punctuated by afterburner. Afterward, we exited the building to let folks lock up. It was about that time that the third of the 2 minute planes went by. Jason's eyes got bigger and bigger. But that was it for him. Zoë on the other hand had her eyes get bigger much faster than Jason's. Then her arms started shaking, she clutched the side of her carrier, and before it had even gotten to its loudest she let out a blood curdling scream, followed by much crying. The problem then was that we had two babies in carriers, our bags and bibles and stuff. We had about 200ft of ground to cover and only 2 minutes before 4 more jets would be coming over.

We didn't make it.

Zoë's entire head turned red she was so tensed up and screaming so hard. I covered her ears so it wouldn't be as loud, but when a jet is that close, it really doesn't matter. You can feel it shake your organs inside your rib cage. I've been close enough to feel the heat off an F-16 afterburner, and it was no more powerful feeling than what we experienced last night.

Three more jets had gone by before we got the kids situated in the van.

She got over it, of course, but this practically guarentees that she'll be screaming when we take them to the fireworks in September. Jason, on the other hand, will probably think its some overgrown video game, and love every minute of it.

-J