A cargo plane unexpectedly thundered over my humble abode approximately thirteen minutes after I pushed myself out of bed to get ready for work at O Dark Thirty this morning.
During that sudden ultra-intense “OH MY GOD” moment, the walls shuddered and the floor quaked. Terrified, I ran from window to window, toothbrush clenched in my jaw.
“Daryl, what’s happening?” I screeched. “It sounds like a plane is getting ready to crash!”
“It’s a C-5 going over,” he laughed quietly, strolling out of the bedroom. “Don’t sweat it, Deb.”
Don’t sweat it, Deb?
Was this man I’m married to kidding? Aircraft passing overhead this outrageously low and frighteningly loud has never happened - not once - in all the time we’ve lived here.
You see, our home is situated in a quaint Norfolk neighborhood which, while relatively close to Naval Station Norfolk (within the five-mile range), prides itself on being cozily and efficiently tucked away from most of the nuisances of everyday military life.
For instance, aircraft noise.
We hear the occasional Chinook SH-53 and E-2C Hawkeye coursing through the deep blue, high above our tidy roof shingles. We also catch the hushed, pre-dawn thup-thup-thup of the local TV traffic pilot in his helicopter scoping out snarls heading toward Naval Station Norfolk early on weekday mornings.
That dastardly loud C-5 making an unaccustomed descent over our house toward the MAC terminal at Naval Station Norfolk at the crack of dawn was entirely out of character for this neighborhood.
On the other hand, fighter jets which routinely bombard Virginia Beach neighborhoods adjacent to NAS Oceana with their touch-and-go exercises and thunderous, earth-shattering decibels during take-offs and landings are not out of character for that particular area of our city.
Everybody here knows that if you buy a house near NAS Oceana, you are naturally going to deal with established flight paths and routine jet noise.
You’re also bound to see a lot of “I Heart Jet Noise” bumper stickers and yard signs because people here associate freedom in Hampton Roads with the roar of those amazing fighter jet engines.
Most might not instantly think of C-5s as being in that catagory but, guess what? They are. It’s all part of the tremendous sound of freedom in this country, if you think about it.
And I, for one - scary as it was this morning - feel awfully glad I get to live so close to it.
