Far North Friday #71: Association
No, not the 1960’s band, but the association created by an object, a piece of music, or a painting and some experience. I picked up a habit from my Father. When I hear an aircraft, I am drawn to see it. My Father was in the Navy during WWII. I noticed that he would always strain to see every aircraft he heard. Like many who served in the war, he did not talk very much about those experiences, but once he told me why he needed to see the aircraft he heard. “If you hear the aircraft, it is too late. The aircraft has flown past you. If it was a bomber, the bombs are already falling on you.”
Many of you know I am not a happy flyer so the fascination with seeing every aircraft I hear may seem odd. I estimate that I flew in at least 15 different models of fixed wing aircraft and 4 helicopter models during my varied career in the north. Although I did not like to fly, I always reminded myself “it is the destination, not the journey”. So, hearing an aircraft today triggers many mental associations.
To me, the aircraft was a means to an end - the destination community or bush camp. When flying, I loved to look out the window at the land I flew over. I saw landforms created by geological processes. I saw shapes in the lakes and landforms that reminded me of imaginary animals or other beings. I saw light in a completely different way. I even saw a lunar eclipse from 20,000 feet. When I was a practicing geologist, an aircraft was the only way to get to a remote area, where we would start another exciting mapping project.
I used to be able to tell you with confidence what type of aircraft was approaching from the sound of its engine. Today, hearing the distant sound of a piston Beaver aircraft still vividly reminds me of sitting by a remote lake, on a beautiful sunny morning, watching a Beaver aircraft fly off. Small things, but burned into my head nevertheless.
We all have mental associations. Some are triggered by sound, some by sight, some by smell, and some by situation. Some are good. A few are less good. All are important for they are part of who we are and the experiences that shaped us. Some even include that 1960’s band called The Association.
Photo: Beechcraft 18 aircraft coming to pick up our geological mapping field crew in the far north of Ontario,. Photo by Andy Fyon, circa late 1970’s or early 1980’s.
The photo illustrates a Beechcraft Model 18 arriving to pick us up from a remote lake in Northern Ontario.
FB: Jan 14/22; Squarespace: Jan 28/22