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Zentangle Diva’s Weekly Challenge #189 – 35,000 Feet Edition

by Suzanne Fluhr on October 16, 2014 · 40 comments

South Africa Airlines

The Zentangle Diva’s challenge this week was to use the tangle Yuma by CZT Tina Akua.

South Africa Airlines

My view of the wing on our South Africa Airlines flight from JFK to Johannesburg.

Working on this challenge helped keep me somewhat sane during a 15 hour non-stop flight in an economy seat, flying from JFK Airport in New York to Johannesburg, South Africa. I had to incorporate a few turbulence induced squiggles, but that’s part of the fun—-right?

Zentangle Diva's weekly challenge

The Diva challenged us to use the tangle, Yuma, this week.

We started out well, sprinkled with random TSA Pre-Check pixie dust, and we arrived safely. So, it’s all good. After a 3 hour layover in Johannesburg, we took another flight to Cape Town —because, you know, we hadn’t had enough hours confined to an airplane for one day 🙂

Cape Town is where we’re starting a 3 week South Africa sojourn. Although Ebola is very much on everyone’s mind (we were screened at South Africa immigration by a fever detecting device), we  are here because Mr. Excitement is meeting with his medical research peeps at an international mesothelioma research conference.

Table mountain, Cape Town, South Africa

The view from our Cape Town hotel window, including the iconic Table Mountain.

Even though I may whine a little about long flights, it is kind of amazing that you can wake up in New York City and go to sleep, albeit 24 hours later, in Cape Town, South Africa. We’re looking forward to starting our explorations.

What do you do to pass the time on long airplane flights? What’s the longest non-stop flight you’ve taken?

{ 40 comments… read them below or add one }

Marilyn Jones October 16, 2014 at 4:50 am

I love your art! I sleep, watch movies and read to pass the time on long flights.

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Suzanne Fluhr October 16, 2014 at 7:19 pm

Good on you for being able to sleep on an airplane!

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Jacqueline Gum (Jacquie) October 16, 2014 at 6:27 am

Absolutely beautiful! I still have not had time to investigate Zentangle since you introduced me to it a while ago with your post. This may motivate me:) I mostly read on long flights…I’m such an avid reader and have less and less time to do so these days, that even a 2 hour flight is a gift, in terms of getting time to read. But when I traveled internationally,reading was my way of passing the time. Be careful over there….

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Suzanne Fluhr October 16, 2014 at 7:22 pm

Reading is good too, but just as Zentangle can be a stress reducer on terra firma, for me it serves the same (or better) purpose in the air. At a certain point on this trip, I was feeling hot, claustrophobic and not at all happy. Tangling helped!

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MySpecialist October 16, 2014 at 6:55 am

Love the richness and the shading! Yes, there is something about flights. I love them even when I whinge.

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Suzanne Fluhr October 16, 2014 at 7:23 pm

Are “whinge” and “whine” pronounced the same way? I know that “whinge” is the true Anglicisim from the mother country.

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Lily October 16, 2014 at 8:58 am

Beautiful tile ☺

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Omer October 16, 2014 at 9:04 am

15 hours flight in economy – ouch ….. Good to hear you managed to survive it, and kudos on your ability to be creative and draw this creative tile in the process.
Specifically, I like the “star” pattern in the lower right side, and I guess the spirals are representative of the turbulence along the way 🙂

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Suzanne Fluhr October 16, 2014 at 11:07 am

That star was inspired by the Fengle tangle which I also just learned this week.

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David Hunter October 16, 2014 at 9:35 am

Love your Tile, Suzanne. Great family of patterns to accompany Yuma in this wonderful design. Delightful shading gives dimension and solidity to the Tile. You have a strong skill-set to create this wonderful tile on a long bumpy flight. Love the long sweeping lines in your Yuma Pattern.

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Suzanne Fluhr October 16, 2014 at 7:24 pm

One thing about in flight tangling is that I found turbulence to be more annoying than frightening.

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1 Art Lady Kate Tangles October 16, 2014 at 10:12 am

Love the contrast in your tile and congrats on surviving the flight!

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Jackie Humphries Smith October 16, 2014 at 10:16 am

I was reporting The Excitement’s latest travel to The Scout and when I noted the length of time in that metal tube hurtling through the sky, he responded after a few moment’s pause and said, “I am not sure we will get to Africa in this lifetime.” Looking forward to your reports – just in case we don’t! Have fun~

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Suzanne Fluhr October 16, 2014 at 7:26 pm

Jackie, maybe you can get The Scout here if you break up the flight. Qatar airlines now flies here through Doha and it’s a shorter ride from Europe. But, yeah, those options would be the difference between a long flight and a ridiculously long flight.

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Ilse October 16, 2014 at 10:37 am

Lovely tile with beautiful details!

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nan @ lbddiaries October 16, 2014 at 12:47 pm

I’m sure as a kid I slept in the long flights but mom was expert at carrying car and airplane games that we only got to use when traveling. I can’t recall as an adult since most flights, no matter how short, seemed to switch planes in mid travel! Love your doodle – tile? – up there. That is just beautiful!

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Suzanne Fluhr October 16, 2014 at 7:28 pm

“Tile” is official Zentangle lingo. Real “by the book” Zentangles are done on a 3.5 inch square tile (cardstock). Mine are considered ZIA’s “Zentangle Inspired Art”.

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nan @ lbddiaries October 23, 2014 at 4:43 pm

Well then I love your ZIAs, because they ARE inspired and beautiful. Breaking the rules is always better, anyway. Phooey on their rules – you just ZIA all over the place, ok?? OK!

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Michelle October 16, 2014 at 1:37 pm

Congratulations on your beautiful zentangle creation and making it to Cape Town which looks amazing. I’ve been on several 15 hour flights and I watch a lot of movies which is not typical of me being too ADHD to sit through them normally. Talk about being a captive audience though 😉 Enjoy!!!

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Suzanne Fluhr October 16, 2014 at 7:31 pm

Now that you mention it, I did watch two movies and I’m not a huge movie fan. I watched “Invictus”—the Morgan Freeman film about Nelson Mandela and the South Africa rugby team and “North by Northwest”, a Hitchcock classic — the one with the train going into the tunnel at the end which was scandalous at the time. 🙂 That still left over 10 hours during which I had to entertain myself.

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Tim October 16, 2014 at 3:25 pm

Long flights are a time for me to relax; I love them which is a good thing because when I head home it is always a long flight. I do get to catch up on all the movies I thought I might want to see though. I am a little envious of your trip to Cape Town; it is one of my favorite cities and being there at this time of year is a real pleasure. All the best.

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Suzanne Fluhr October 16, 2014 at 7:32 pm

Tim, it’s true. Traveling Kiwis have to have iron bottoms.

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Kia October 16, 2014 at 4:09 pm

what an exciting trip – your tile is lovely – can’t believe you did it on an airplane

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Betsy Wuebker | PassingThru October 16, 2014 at 5:34 pm

I don’t know if I could go that long in economy. At the very least, I think I’d want an exit row, and would be willing to pay for it. I love how your latest tangles are taking on a three dimensional quality. I am going to start taking photos for you of the fabrics here, along with other Fijian motifs, which I think you would find inspiring.

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Suzanne Fluhr October 16, 2014 at 7:34 pm

Thanks, Betsy. Actually, the African patterns are also inspiring. Of course, I see patterns everywhere nowadays. Yes, I actually took a photo of the carpet in the Hampton Inn where we stayed the night before we left. The cost of business class to South Africa is really steep or I definitely would have considered splurging.

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HeidiSue October 16, 2014 at 6:27 pm

so much beadwork! very nice. It takes a lot of patience to make all those identical little seeds/beads. and the yuma of course is nicely done. The whole piece reminds me a little bit of what you might find on the vanity of a starlet or a Las Vegas show girl! ha!

Your travels sound like loads of fun. I actually did get the TSA pre check the last time I flew (clear from Salt Lake City, to Kallispell, MT.) That was nice, I must say.

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Suzanne Fluhr October 16, 2014 at 7:35 pm

What was strange about our “Pre-Check” was that we didn’t even have that on our boarding passes. It seemed like they were using it for line management. The only difference between us and the real “Pre-Check” people was that I don’t think they had to get their hands swabbed for explosives.

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Roz Warren October 16, 2014 at 8:34 pm

On long flights, I eat pretzels to pass the time. And drink tomato juice on ice. And if they’re friendly, I schmooze with the flight attendants.

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Suzanne Fluhr October 17, 2014 at 5:50 pm

Roz, where do you get the pretzels? I was chomping on red twizzlers for much of the flight which made me feel rather nauseous.

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Patti October 16, 2014 at 10:05 pm

The longest flight we’ve endured was San Francisco to Auckland, New Zealand, (13 hours) where we had a lay over and then 4 more hours to Melbourne, Australia. Talk about a long time on a plane. Bleah… I always have a fully charged Kindle and I travel with super special Crayola roll-up crayons and a book of geometric patterns to color. As much as I hate to fly, I agree that starting your day in one country and ending it in another is somewhat mind-boggling! Looking forward to hearing (reading) about your adventure!

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Suzanne Fluhr October 17, 2014 at 5:54 pm

Our first long haul flight was Philly to LAX, then LAX to Auckland and finally, Auckland to Christ Church. However, the LAX to Auckland leg was in Business Class. Even though that was prior to the lay flat seats in business class, it was still tolerable. During our flight to South Africa, I couldn’t even recline my seat. I think the guy behind me was using one of those devices that keep the seat in front from reclining. However, I didn’t feel like ending up ejected from the plane for causing a scene, so I just sucked it up—kind of.

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Annemarie October 17, 2014 at 3:52 am

I love your tile, it’s like beads are everywhere!
Hm, I have to admit that I have never been in an airplane, just because I can’t find the courage to do so. If I did, I would love to go to a training for CZT, but …… even that can not get me in a plan. My longest trip in a train was 6,5 hours (from Holland to Switzerland) and I had a book and music with me.

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tina-akua October 17, 2014 at 4:56 am

thank you for this nice entry with “YUMA”.

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LonettA October 17, 2014 at 8:50 am

Beautiful tile! Your Yuma has a wonderful flow!

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Anita @ No Particular Place To Go October 17, 2014 at 8:58 am

We recently met a gentleman from South Africa who extolled the virtues of his country and told such interesting stories about the sights, people and history that we’ve begun to do some extensive research. Hope to get to this area in the next couple of years as we want to see this amazing country. I’m looking forward to your posts!

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Jean Chaney October 17, 2014 at 3:23 pm

What a pretty piece you came up with on your travels. I hope you have an enjoyable stay!

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Leigh October 17, 2014 at 6:28 pm

That’s a brutal flight but if you’re in South Africa for long enough it’s definitely worth it. Are you including Namibia on this itinerary? I loved a visit there but have never had the pleasure of exploring Cape Town.

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Suzanne Fluhr October 18, 2014 at 2:09 pm

Yes, we are here for 3 weeks—which makes the 15 hour flight worth it. We won’t be visiting Namibia on this trip. I’ve heard others who liked visiting there quite a lot.

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bmlilith October 19, 2014 at 2:19 pm

Lovely tile. It looks very labor intensive with all the little circles. Have a wonderful time while you are there.

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Maddy Resendes October 20, 2014 at 11:31 am

Very nice artwork, Suzanne. Wonder what your father, the artist, would have made of these creations. You should post a picture of one of your bird “doodles”/”drawings” from back in the day. I think we can see that you were a Zentanglist-waiting-to-happen; you just had to bump into the right vessel! And now you have – brava to the results!!

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