Archive for June, 2010
Skydiving
June 30th, 2010Several residents and I took the plunge and went skydiving today. Aboard a tiny Cessna airplane that only fit four, it took us about ten minutes to climb to 10000 feet. Not too strange except that one side of the plane was completely open to the outside. Just as I was getting used to that, it was time to strap in to my guide/instructor. I dutifully followed his instructions (”sit in my lap”) and was strapped very securely to my new butt-buddy’s front side.
Ida was up first. She and her tandem partner sat on the edge for a few seconds as I stared at them wondering what would happen next. Then they fell out, and I panicked (see video for confirmation). It was a very unsettling feeling seeing a friend fall out of the side of a plane. I tried to rush to the ledge in a strange effort to save her, but I was too paralyzed by terror. Immediately I was pushed us to the same spot, and all of a sudden I had my own set of problems to deal with … namely sitting on the edge of an airplane two miles high in the air. Actually, he was sitting on the plane; I was simply hanging off the edge, connected to him only by a few cloth straps.
And then we rolled out. Free fall was unlike any feeling I’ve ever experienced, and it was exhilarating. The video conveys it all, so enough talking and more watching:
Motherfucker, I’m awesome!