Happy New Year everyone! May your moments in 2007 be blessed with good health, fortune, and most importantly lots of laughs.

I want to thank those who’ve spent some time at MentalDetour looking around and posting comments. Your support is greatly appreciated.

This image is mostly in honor of a book my co-worker recently shared with me. It’s called “Wind, Sand and Stars,” by Antoine De Saint-Exupery (you can purchase it here). I just finished reading it and must say that it’s a book I would rate as one of my top five, and can see myself coming back to it for years to come. It’s the adventures of a French mail pilot and is interwoven with profound philosophical thought. Here is some admonition, in the book, given by a seasoned pilot to a young one:

”You’ll be bothered from time to time by storms, fog, snow. When you are, think of those who went through it before you, and say to yourself ‘What they could do, I can do.’ “

I predict that in 2007 I will finally bring myself to start my flying lessons. This image, as the first this year, will hopefully serve as reminder of the amazing adventures that await me in the sky.

Also, for those who’ve noticed, I’ve redesigned the MentalDetour a little bit. I am hoping that this new cleaner design will make viewing the images a more pleasant experience for you all. Enjoy! And, feel free to comment; both positive and negative criticism is always welcome.

Nikon D80 / Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 / iso100 f8 1/250sec 50mm