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Michele

Coming Home

By Michele, in The Bonfire

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Michele    1

Michele
It is very gloomy as I get into my car, and I wonder - will I even get to jump? Will I taste the sky, will I fly with friends today, or will it rain? But ahhhhhhh, with the Stones cranking "Satisfaction", I pull into the parking lot, and there are canopies in the sky, and an idling plane....it is clear!

I walk into the office, and say hi to everyone, and check my account. There seems to be not only a chocolate fairy in my life, but a jump ticket fairy, too. They will not tell me this time who it was who put 2 jumps on my account, no matter how hard I beg and plead. And so I do not know, but thank my unknown giver with a heartsmile.

As no-one has said word one to me about recurrency, I don't say anything myself. But I do go and find Shark, because even though no-one says anything, I feel like I should follow the rules. They are, after all, there for a reason. So Shark and I decide that our first jump will be something really mellow, maybe sidebody stuff, nothing new nor stressful. This will be a quiet check-out jump, just basic stuff. But I will be jumping.................me, jumping again, after everything which has gone on. Me, in the air. Me with a friend. Yesssssssssssssssssssssssss......

And I can't wait. I manifest us onto the first load I can, which is 30 minutes. That's about how long it takes for me to get ready, first jump of the day and all. I grab my gear, go over it with a fine toothed comb, turn on the cypres and watch it count down. I check mobility in the reserve cord, spin the three rings, clean my goggles and alti face, and clamber into my jumpsuit. The flying grape is here!! I put on my rig, and it feels so nice on my back...like a heavy friend. Everything tightened down, and Shark gives me a check. Yup, ready. Sitting in the plane, I am next to Clownburner. I am surrounded by friends and skyfamily, and I realize how much I miss the camaraderie and the energy vibrating throughout the small cabin of a twin otter. How much this unique union in the sky binds people together. I let out a whoop and holler, and everyone in the plane knows I'm here. I'm back!!!

Up we climb, and the uppers are at 30 - must give a long time between jumpers in the door. Shark will be floating, I will be linked and diving...and as we approach the door, I take a deep breath. The clarity and sharpness of the air here 2 1/2 miles above the earth is biting and refreshing. I feel like I've been holding my breath for 2 months, waiting, anticipating the purity here.

And here we go. I forget to leave my foot behind, and push a little bit harder than I should, rotating us about 70 degrees. Shark is in front of me, smiling, and I grin back. I check alti, and we are really fine. We release, and I go sailing off to the right. I stop the turn, and kind of hang there, not sure if I should turn back, or if Shark is coming. Ah, here he is. Grab grips again, and release. He backs off a bit, and I move forward, and now it's just proximity. Maintain that, grin like a fool at him, and now it's time to turn and track. Smooth, get big, arms back, legs down, and offfffff I go. I can feel the position, and know I've got a good one. And now it's time to deploy - clear, signal, reach, throw....

Open. In a bit of a turn, right front end cell closed. No issues, easy...toggles popped and pumped, and here I am again, in the sky over Elsinore, alone. Just me and the earth beneath. No-one there knows I'm here, and yet - I am part of a much bigger whole than I ever am on the ground. I can see forever, or at least 10 miles. And things snap back into perspective, this moment now is the only one which counts, this heartbeat, and now this one, and then this one. I shout with glee, with freedom, and thank God again that I can play in His playground. And I know the clouds are smiling.

I approach the ground, and feel the air change. There is little wind at ground level, and I have misjudged it utterly. And as I come speeding over the ground, I forget everything I've ever learned, and flare at 25 feet. Oooops. And remember that I can't let go, I've got to ride it in this way, so I stop the flare 3/4 of the way, and feel the pendulum effect which means I've done a proper flare. But the ground is not 5 inches under my feet, it's more like 5 feet - or 7 feet, if I am to be brutally honest...and of course I forget how to PLF, and instead land feet/hands and knees/hips/belly/boobies but manage to keep my face out of the dirt. I skid for a bit, laughing. No significant pain, I know I'm fine, but that's simply because I am lucky and not because I'm skilled. And I've now invented the BLF - Boobie Landing Fall - where you use your boobs to stop your skid....

I gather up my gear, and get back into the packing tent. I am ecstatic, alive, on fire. I am twizzling. I can feel the hair on my arms twitching I am so hyperaware of what's around me. And I grab Sharkie and give him a huge hug. We debrief, and as I log this jump into my log book, I realize I've crossed the hour mark of freefall time. I am not sure why that surprised me - it was jump number 80, after all (yes, I've done a lot of HnPs), but for some reason it did in fact surprise me. And I grin.

It's time to jump with MJOSparky. Again, we have a 30 minute call. This time, I will try diving out after him, just like the big kids do on more than a 4 way...I've not done the chasing thing in forever (honestly, I can't remember if I've ever done it...), so Sparky gives me some pointers. He will not be giving me a count, as soon as he leaves the plane I am to follow, get narrow and tight, and zoom down on him and get grips. If all goes well, we will break off, he will back loop, and I will chase him again. Sure, and this seems easy enough.

HAH!

Into the plane, it's a very light load, and the uppers are still cranking. Two freeflyers are going out before us, so we are going to give them a lot of time. The rest of the load are students and instructors, and I make sure they all know I am opening at 4.5, so as to not surprise them. The freeflyers go, and Sparky, in this great orange jumpsuit, gets into the door. I lay my hand on his arm, so as to know when he leaves, and we count. I count to 15, and I am waiting for him to leave. Waiting, waiting, waiting - HEY! WAIT FOR ME! Oh shit, he's gone, I'm still here, and out I leap. And of course I am tense and of course I present to the plane and of course I lose him way below me. So I turn in a circle, looking for the orange, and there it is. There he is, waiting. And I need to get down there somehow.

As I fold my arms back, drop my head, and aim for him, I add sound effects in my head... "nearrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz" like a cartoon character from my childhood, and I start laughing as I'm diving down....I get on a level with Sparky, flatten out, and drive towards him. And drive, because we are easily 50 yards away. It's not a full track, but kinda close. And then he gets really big really fast, and I wonder when he is going to slow down. When? Hey, you're close, hey, Sparky, no, don't crash, slow down.....and as he de-arches and as I arch as hard as I can, we miss each other.

We turn to face each other, and he has a grin on his face. I know mine matches his, and we gently come close to each other. And take grips. And as we are approaching a cloud, which wasn't there before, he shakes his head - no more maneuvers. Just hold on. And we come out of the cloud, and it's time to track, and as we break and I turn, I feel something whack my neck and shoulder. Not sure what it is, I look, thinking maybe Sparky is trying to get my attention, but he's not there. Whacktickle comes again, and I realize something is off with my gear. I flatten into a track, poorly with my legs uneven, and stop. Try that again. So I do, but because something is whacking my neck, I am concerned, so I don't hold it long at all, and wave off and deploy a bit higher than I expected...and am in the saddle at 4.2. I watch Sparky fall away from me, and it is surreal, watching someone open and deploy 2k under me. Once I am sure he has a perfect canopy, I start to play.

360 this way, then 360 that. And now a 720, and this is bliss. I am here again, and this is all I dreamed of when I was healing...this freedom, this soaring, this pas de deux between me and the sky. This. And here I am again.

And now it's time to enter my landing pattern, and I am very aware of the pink celled canopy about 350 feet below me. I move over him so as to be far enough away so he is clear, and I waggle my legs. He waggles back. We are both aware of each other, and there is no other canopy around. As I start my pre-downwind crosswind leg, he mirrors me, between me and the landing area. He is one of the freeflyers, I know he's a better canopy pilot than me, so I am watching him, wondering when he will cut across and head for the grass. Onto the downwind we parallel each other, and now, the crosswind. I am rather high, so I do a long wide turn, and an S turn. I see him in rear risers, and wonder if I've scared him and he's waiting for me. I am now over buildings, and I hate being here, because of the turbulence potential...but I will have to turn soon....and I know he is aware of me, and I have to turn now or I will get into trouble.

So I turn, watching him, and see that he is turning with me. I don't get all the way turned, because I am a bit worried that he needs the clearance, so I angle a bit out and crosswind. And now it's time to flare, and I say wait, wait, wait, and flare at a better height, but still too high, and reach with my right arm and leg, and sort of land on my bottom and knee at the same time. Owie, but again, not bad. I gather my gear together, and Sparky comes walking over, and I hug him with all my stuff in my arms and laugh. And then he says "I was wondering if you were going to ever slow down up there...". We laugh, and I thank him for such a great jump, and then apologize for trying to run him over and thus kill him in the sky, and he shakes his head. "You're learning, we had fun, and it's all good. I had fun". To know that such an accomplished jumper had fun with me is pleasing in a way unexpected, and left me smiling big.

We debrief, and my body is hurting and I am starting to cramp, so I decide to call it a day. It may have only been two jumps, but they were wonderful, with friends, and successful.

I hunt around for the canopy flyer that I think I've cut off, both to apologize and to learn from, and when I finally find him, he reassures me that I did fine, he wasn't at all concerned about me, and that I never cut him off - he was just giving me, the novice, as much room as I wanted. He had never planned to land on the grass, and he was not put off his pattern. Whew, I think...

What a great day!!! I'm still flying today, still reveling, knowing the sky waits for me to come back again. And I will be back at least once before any more surgery, to build memories to help sail me through my recovery....

Ciels-
Michele


~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek
While our hearts lie bleeding?~

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NoShitThereIWas    0

NoShitThereIWas
Hi Michele! I'm so glad to hear you are back in the sky. And you got to jump with Shark, lucky lady ...

All I can say is that I am ecstatic for you. I too made some jumps yesterday after a 4 month break. Feels great doesn't it?

Next time we will head down to Snore and get on a couple of loads. I'll try and make it down before I head East.

I can't think of any better idea than getting to make some jumps with you and Shark.

;)
Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires."

Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

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Michele    1

Michele
Rocky, you're such a sweetheart!!

Jen, I will absolutely do everything I can to get into the sky with you. If nothing else, I will be there, cheering you on.

Kai,
Quote

I would suspect that you are fully recovered now?


Um, no. It looks like I've got at least one more surgery in January - we still haven't determined what is causing this incessent bleeding, and the Dr. may want to correct the double cervix thing. So unfortunately, no...still rather in the middle of everything, just "taking a break"....B| but sufficently recovered to play in the sky for the moment, and we will take January when January comes!

Ciels-
Michele


~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek
While our hearts lie bleeding?~

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VanillaSkyGirl    6

VanillaSkyGirl
Michele, my swootie! :)
I was just going to send you a PM. It was sooo wonderful to see your smile and to feel you huge hug, yesterday. I think that you should be very proud of yourself for going to the DZ and jumping with everything that you have been going through. It is quite an accomplishment.

Well, Nightingale and you finally met, and you saw a bunch of your old friends, too. I think that you had quite a successful day back! Two jumps in your condition is plenty, Michele. I'm so very proud of and happy for you! B| It was wonderful to see you, again, at last!!! (I heard you on the plane, too, and I KNEW that you were happy!)
Btw, the winds that we were landing in for that first jump were almost non-existant, so don't worry too much about the landing. Next time, you will get it. :)

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Snowbird    0

Snowbird
You go girl!

Quote

I feel like I've been holding my breath for 2 months, waiting, anticipating the purity here.



So perfectly put! SO perfectly put. Thank you Michele:)

Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.
-Robert A. Heinlein

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mjosparky    4

mjosparky
Hey Lady,
Thank you so much for making a jump with me. Seeing the excitement on your face and the "happy" in your eyes makes me appreciate what we have in this thing we call skydiving.B| Lets do it again soon, and I get to go last.:P
Sparky
My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

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dterrick    0

dterrick
Well, Michele, I had a good weekend but not THAT good....there was no skydiving...;)

Y'know that your first hour in freefall is a Beerable offence, right?

BLF???!? I doubt you invented it but I think the moniker will stick :)
You've got me thinking about what cartoon character made that 'mmmmrowmmmm' sound. Was it Underdog? The mental image you conjure will keep me smiling at LEAST till coffee break this morning. Thanks. and Happy Monday.

Dave


Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

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alanab    0

alanab
welcome back to the sky michele!!!! your story put a big smile on my face and tears of joy in my eyes. reading that made me think about when i got to jump again after being grounded for 2 months in the middle of the summer. you are such a wonderful person and it's great to hear you happy!!! im so proud of you! congrats and again... welcome home!

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Michele    1

Michele
Quote

Did you figure out what was up with your gear on that second jump? Just curious.


Yes, Sparky said it was my riser cover. It had been open most of the jump. This is the first time that happened, so I am going to check it out and make sure all is well with it. Startled me, you know?

Quote

Y'know that your first hour in freefall is a Beerable offence, right?


Ahem. Yes, I do know that. And beer will be brought the next time I am down there....I owe the Shark, because it was on that jump that the hour mark was passed. Someone tried to convince me it was a pieable offense, but no, I wasn't going for that. I think he just wants to pie me...:)

Quote

BLF???!? I doubt you invented it but I think the moniker will stick


Well, maybe not invented, but named, at least. LOL!!

Quote

You've got me thinking about what cartoon character made that 'mmmmrowmmmm' sound. Was it Underdog? The mental image you conjure will keep me smiling at LEAST till coffee break this morning. Thanks. and Happy Monday.


THANK YOU!!! I couldn't recall who it was - it wasn't Snoopy and the Red Baron incarnation...yes, I think it was UnderDog. I'm glad you're smiling...I still get the giggles from that image.

Happy Monday to you, as well....

And Alana, yes, I am happy. I was at work with my brother, and he commented that it was good to see me relaxed - and "that skydiving seems to be in your blood! Good for you!!" How kewlio he saw and understood.

Ciels-
Michele


~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek
While our hearts lie bleeding?~

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