Checking off the list...

Hi! Just back from vacation!!! Sorry to be so long in posting...

It feels so good to check off items from your ‘Someday…” list. This last week I checked off one of the big ones…Skydiving. I read in a book once that there are two types of people- those who say, awesome, where can I sign up? and those who say, yeah right, are you insane? I belong to the first group. Since I was in high school, jumping has been a dream. My parents taught me to fear very little in life and leading up to that morning I really wasn’t afraid. I have never really felt it was all that dangerous anyway since you are strapped to an instructor who has jumped so many times before. Of course things go wrong, but they could go wrong when you are driving on the freeway or running down the stairs. Skydiving just seems a bit more ‘in your face’ dangerous…

It has been awhile since I have felt such an adrenaline rush. I used to feel it in high school when I would jump off large mounds of snow. But after the accident that broke both my thumbs and had me in double casts for weeks, I never felt comfortable flinging myself with all the speed I could muster off those mounds. I didn’t realize how much I missed or loved that rush…and it was all relatively easy. I was strapped to an instructor, flown to 14,000 feet over the ocean, told to arch ‘like a shrimp’ and keep my chin up. Then we just tumbled out....












I will never forget the light feeling, the air rushing and rolling around you. Your skin flaps, your ears seize up, your arms flail around, and your heart is SO happy…From high above the coral, waves and steep green mountains of Oahu were amazing. I felt so free- I guess if you are plummeting at 180mph toward the Earth with nothing but air surrounding you, you would tend to feel pretty free…

Our free fall lasted a full minute...










But the time went quick...or the thousands of feet of air went by quick...








After the chute opened we floated down. By pulling the two handles of the chute you can pull yourself in circles or slow up and feel the wind filling the huge cloth above you. It was beautiful.











The only time I really realized how fast we were moving was when we approached the ground. We seemed so high up but then I blinked and my feet were skidding across grass. It was over much too soon…and I am counting the days until I can go again. My heart quickens just thinking about it. ;)