Skydiving. I actually went SKYDIVING and I am so excited to be able to tell the tale and cross off I very important number on my to-do list.
Pictures First!! Ahhh.
And so begins one of my most favorite experiences. SKYDIVING.
The pre skydiving went by quickly in fact, one minute I was sitting on a bench all jitters and the next minute I was suited up, harnessed in, and seconds away from stepping onto the dinky airplane that would take us up for the plunge.
My instructor/tandem jumper was helpful and I enjoyed him very much. There was a crazy character there that was not even wearing a jumpsuit much less anything else. He did wear a pair of cammo pants and a T-shirt and he had a very nice set of dreads if I do say so myself. When he first walked by I shook my head and kept thinking I hope I don’t get him, I hope I don’t get him… and beside my friend John looked at me and whispered, I hope that’s my guy. I smiled and not two seconds later “Dreads” turns around and is like John? I just shook my head on that one and john looks and me with the Yesss expression.
As we sat there waiting to board the plane everyone is suited up ready to go, so excited. Dreads was sitting there not even wearing his parachute and he definitely wasn’t harnessed in quite yet. The plane rolls up and we are all preparing to board it when Dreads stands up, picks up the parachute pack, slings it on his shoulder like he’s a football player in high school and walks towards the plane with a glance. He has big balls I’d say. Needless to say we all lived, but that just makes you wander a little. He can be trusted now. haha.
After boarding the plane I set the altimeter log on my watch and prepared for the jump. There wasn’t much to do except look out the window and think. As we took off all I could think of was the Ron White comedy when he’s talking about being on a dinky plane catching a connecter flight to somewhere when it had engine problems. One of his best works I might add.
He says there’s a guy on the same plane freaking out asking everyone if they think they’ll be okay and make it out alive. Ron White turns to him and says “Well buddy, there’s one thing I know for sure, were going to make it all the way to the scene of the crash. And I bet you we’ll beat the ambulance there by about a half hour.” Priceless.
If there’s a moment everyone out there should experience in their lives, its this one. Right after the door opens and John and Dreads disappear I scooted over ot the door and grabbed ahold of the bar. Before moving any farther to the door I peaked my head out slightly and looked down at the ground. I couldn’t see anything from where we where and that Holy Shit feeling about what I was going to do hit me like a ton of bricks. In that moment I was either going to make it or break it. And I knew, I wanted to make it.
I distinctly remember hearing the instructor screaming okay go, and I just let go of the bar and let my body fall out. In that second two things happened, the first thing was that I saw the ground much more clearer, and the second thing was that I flipped and I saw the plane suspended there in the sky right beside me. Now that, that was quite a surreal feeling. I half flipped again and then my instructer righted us and we were well into the freefall.
I know I didn’t scream but I feel like my mouth was open as wide as could be in shock and my eyes were watering through the goggles from the air resistance. I didn’t blink for a second. I just let that feeling take over my whole body as I watched the ground form before my eyes. The green dots turned into trees, I saw the road, then the lines on the road, and the cars.
With that freefall there was a deafening noise of the wind rushing through me, around me, encompassing me. It was so loud I remember that as well, and then after what was quite some time, we pulled the parachute. And that was another moment in another dream that must be relived as it happened. All of that noise suddenly disentigrated. Leaving complete silence. The same way as if, during a huge thunderstorm, the sun would appear and the land would calm down after the battering it took from the storm.
As soon as I was suspended in the air with the parachute I could not settle down. I let out a long breath, blinked three times to see if I still had my contacts and then I watched as the ground really started to form above me. I know that I did not shut my mouth the entire time, I was too awed.
When we landed he unstrapped me and I shakily got to my feet. It felt like as soon as it had begun it was over. And it was sooo worth it.
I feel that I must relive those moments again, and with it comes another skydiving trip. Its so worth it, so worth it. Do it.
“Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checked by failure… Than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.” – Theodore Roosevelt
There you have it… 90% of the world should be infected from the zombie apocolypse. So Sad.
If you’re not afraid of these guys… then you have some serious problems! Sharks are the scariest predator I know besides dinosaur’s (only because their extinct) and in my total fear of them, I have been glued to the TV this past week gasping and screaming (rarely, but it does happen) at shark attacks and crazy shit that goes down involving sharks.
And finally… I leave you with quite a scary picture. Be Cautious, Be Alert, and Be ready for anything when you enter shark infested waters. Especially in Florida where it is said to be the deadliest place on Earth. If I were you I’d go get some facts and stories on the discovery channel right now. You have four more days of shark stories to wet the appetite.
SAVE YOURSELF.
Books, open the cover and recieve.
What Are You Thinking?