When I was a kid I was seriously freaked out by reading the story of Paracutín, a volcano that literally grew in a farmer's field in Mexico and then erupted horrifically -- or at least that's how I remember it; I hardly bothered to fact-check. I spent two years nervously peering down at our backyard from the balcony. But planes? Except for tamping down my latent claustrophobia, I don't worry much on planes. My oldest son is an airline pilot, and it's surprising how reassuring that is.