Sunday, July 02, 2006

Surprise landing


I´ve said it before – the strangest things happen in this town. This morning we woke up by the sound of a helicopter. Helicopters are not that unusual where we live, but having one right above our house at eight o´clock on a sunday morning is not part of our daily routines.

Suddenly the sound of it stopped. It didn´t fade, it just stopped. Meaning the helicopter must have landed.

We went out to check, and there it was. A big red ambulance helicopter, right in front of the fire-station about a hundred meters from our apartment. Don´t ask me how they managed to put that thing down between the station and a huge tree right next to it, plus a big road with traffic on it. I guess the pilot must have practiced landing a few times before.

I sat down across the street to draw this oddity, and after a while the crew came out and put on their gear, and the pilot called out to me and asked me if I was prepared for their taking off. “Sure”, I said and gave him thumbs up. So they started the engine and I tried desperately to look kind of cool and used to the situation but, man… I´ve seen helicopter lift-offs on TV and I´ve understood that there is WIND under a helicopter, but this was ridiculous. I was practically blown off the little power station I was sitting on. I´m glad I was able to hold on to the Moleskine.

Oh well. You learn something new every day. Next time I won´t be wearing a wide skirt.

10 comments:

Teri said...

What a fun sketch and what a hoot when the copter took off!

Felicity Grace said...

Great story (and of course drawing!) How lucky that it landed right outside of where you live and we all get to see it!

Tami said...

That take off cracked me up especially the wide skirt! Way to go, getting out there and drawing it!

Jennifer said...

Yikes, you made me laugh out loud while everyone's trying to sleep LOL!! Great story and so cool that you got a sketch of it ... it looks great.

Shelly McC said...

Stunning Sketch!

Penny said...

I love reading your blog, your stories always bring a smile and your paintings are always great.

Anastasia said...

haha...what an amazing chance to sketch something completely different in your normal surroundings - great illo!

Jana Bouc said...

I love it that you were more concerned about holding onto the moleskine than your skirt! There are some really nice little details in this picture--the highlights on the helicopter, the little brick patterns on the building--just enough detail to add texture and interest and not too much. Very cool!

starrgirl's world said...

how fun and a gorgeous sketch to boot! And a little marilyn monroe with the skirt there, eh? LOL!

Witness said...

Nina,
Your stuff is awesome. I love the REDNESS of the helicopter. I just started using watercolor (thanks to your encouraging posts and comments) and I'm finding that i'm still quite transparent in that medium. Thanks for being so bold!