Are you ready to switch off your screens and ponder or discuss another writing/conversation prompt during dinner tonight? You want to know about my thoughts on it? Here’s my take:
Have you ever been to a place where they do parachuting or skydiving? I have. There are a few around Western Washington, and the people there are pretty cool. They tell you fun stories about their adventures, some of which even might not have ended so well if it hadn’t been for lots of good luck. I also happen to have a very dear friend in Germany who did this back in the day. She never tried to persuade me to try it. Nor will anybody ever get me even tempted.
I understand that it is wonderful to see our planet from above. I totally get it. Our planet is gorgeous in so many places. Though I’m not a friend of any heights, not even of a step-ladder, I always enjoy looking out of the window when on a plane. Which in itself happens rarely enough, usually on the way to or from visiting with family or the even rarer vacation. It’s all about geography, geology, and colors. Just flying across our stunning State of Washington is a mind-blowing experience. The last time we did it eastward, we flew so close to Mount Rainier that we could discern hikers and even some of our favorite hiking areas. My husband usually has a classic GPS on him to figure our flying height, speed, and direction. It’s fun to see where you are at a specific point in time – there WERE those days when you had monitors on the back of the seat in front of you where you could get an adequate map. Yes, those were the days!
I also understand that it is thrilling for some people to experience free fall. I’m certainly not one of them. I did a few dives from the three-meter-board (about ten feet of height), feet first, back in the day. But even wild horses couldn’t drag me to pull this stunt for a swimming certificate that included underwater free-diving for distance and for retrieval, and swimming a specific distance, all of which I had already under the belt. I did do rollercoasters later on, even those with loopings – but I never enjoyed the feeling in my tummy. Only last year, I stepped into the Hollywood Tower Hotel in Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Big mistake! Free fall in the dark is so not it for me. It took me an hour to get my body back to normal. And I still can’t see the point of such a “ride.”
Let’s say, if YOU want to do it, enjoy by all means. As I don’t have wings and can’t fly, this jumping out of a plane and/or anything free fall doesn’t have any attraction for me. I rather see aerials taken by a drone. I rather hike down a road. I want ground under my feet while enjoying all the small things that I can experience. Maybe, I’m not a risk-taker (some might call that cowardly; so be it) – but potentially broken limbs or vertebrae are not worth it to me. I accept that people who do this as a hobby have developed a lot of skills. But the risk is still there, and I have a responsibility to stay in one piece as much as possible for my loved ones, too.
Skydiving – indeed, I love lying on a beach or in a meadow and dive into the sky with my eyes. Admire the shapes that clouds take, the different hues of gray, the blues of the infinite sky beyond. It never gets boring. And I don’t have to brace for a sudden stop when diving upwards with my eyes instead of down with my body …
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