There is something really awesome about the sound of a helicopter coming up on and passing you. Maybe it’s just the military-style choppers that emit that powerful thunder-clapping with their rotors, or do the news reporters have it too. This morning, a military medical transport (Huey?) flew a few times, low, over the CheckFree campus. There is an elementary school next door, so it’s entirely likely that they were performing for them.
Thunder rose in quick pulses from an ambiguous source, as if by some far off artillery battle. The sound began to solidify and a source slowly materialized. Then, a great helicopter emblazoned with the red cross insignia rattled into view and soared overhead. As it did, the pitch changed from deadened thunder claps to rugged gasps of an impressive engine. So massive a hulk was the machine’s ungainly body as it moved gently over the trees. The noise did not match the passage. As it continued past, it dematerialized leaving only the thunder-claps from whence it came.