red river runneth over (aerial view)

Yesterday, my blogging/mommy friend, Marie from Murray’s Momma had an amazing chance to go up in a charter plane to view the water-ravished Red River Valley from above. During the crux of the sandbagging efforts a few weeks back, Marie was one of those who rolled up her sleeves and worked like there might be no tomorrow. I can only imagine what it must have felt like for her yesterday, especially having been among the working bees on the ground during that very intense time, and then, several weeks later, to be glimpsing that same scene from on high. It must have been something of an out-of-body experience to have seen that wide-angle view after crawling around in the muck just weeks earlier. I can imagine it was both humbling and awe-inspiring, both amazing and gut-wrenchingly sad.

Here’s what Marie shared with me about her up-high adventure:

“I was listening to KFGO a few weeks back, and a man by the name of Mike Paulson called in to report that he would take those interested up for a view of the valley. My curiosity peaked, but I didn’t follow through. A co-worker of mine who was interested called and inquired. After some research, I discovered that Mike is an instructor at the Fargo Jet Center. …For $50.00, (a different instructor) took us on a forty minute tour. We went south to Briarwood, made a big loop to Horace, the Sheyenne Diversion, then north to Harwood and back. It was an incredible experience. I feel that it was the best $50.00 I’ve spent in a long time!”

Here’s one image from her incredible day. For the rest, jump over to Murray’s Momma.