Beyond These Walls is the Sky

[Michele 1]

Beyond these walls is the Sky
Rain drips steadily down, clammy and cold. Down the picture window rolls streams and rivulets of rain, distorting my view, making everything somewhat Picasso-esque. I stare out the window, and look at the street - oilslick and vaguely threatening. The flowers in my garden droop, heavy with water caught in their cupped blooms. But I don't see this - I see the sky instead, the sky beyond the clouds, the sky beyond the walls I have around me.
I know it's there, this bright blue, startlingly huge expanse. I know it's there, I feel it. I feel it's crispness and it's depth, sunkissed and sweetly pure. I know it's there, even if I can't see it, even if I can only imagine it for now. My eyes close, and I am free again. I am in the sky above the wet grayness, through the dense rain that has futilely tried to pen me into these four walls. I am in the sky again.
And so I play, dancing and soaring through the sky, even though my body is here on the couch. I feel myself twist and turn, feel the pressure distorting my skin, streaming past and somehow through me. In my mind, I sail through the shafts of liquid gold, into the depths of the sky they reach, and I follow them toward their ends. And there is no end. In my mind, I am free, flying, reaching the sky, part of all this grandness. A feather on the wind, no more, and for now, that is all I need or want.
I breathe, ever so deep, taking into me the simple air, not fouled with fumes, nor sullied with discordant noise. I hear the rush of the sky as I cut through it, the freefall scream of a body in flight, such a perfect noise to compliment the silence that must be there when I am not. This contrast - the noise against the silence, this stark difference, is perfectly balanced, and I long for this balance in the rest of my world; this simple, natural, easy balance.
I see the earth below me as I fly, terrain moving past. I see the silver sliver of river, sparkling, shooting up reflections of the sun I soar in. I see the mountains, the glorious hills, shades of browns and greens, dotted here and there with little buildings and homes. I see the desert, stretching out and away, seemingly as vast as the sky. I see all this with my eyes closed. I see this with my heart, and I feel it with my soul. I see the blending, the great puzzle, the whole picture, the completeness of the land.
I cannot see this perfection from the ground - I am mired in the daily chore of career, family, home, this so-called life. But now I know that the world is more than I had ever known, more than I had ever allowed myself to imagine until one late spring day this year. And now I know there is more to me than I had ever thought possible. And in this knowledge, I know that I am different; that I am made whole, by my time in the sky. I know that there is more to the world than I had been taught, because I have been there, and seen that which isn't taught. I carry a piece of the sky with me through my day, knowing that it is there, not far. I just look up and remember.
I know it's there, this sky. I know it in my heart and with my soul, I know it is, and I can go there, even if only in my mind. I shut my eyes, and I can go there to be free. Beyond these walls is the sky.
Ciels-
Michele
"What of the dreams that never die? Turn to your left at the end of the sky".
~e e cummings~

[FallingMarc 0]

Wow... I'm speechless! I can't wait to come out to Perris next year...
Marc

[Albatross 0]

SO my dear when is the book coming out. Better than that when are you coming out again?
God bless us and God Bless America
Albatross

[FallingILweenie 0]

Very poetic!
California sounds good.....damn it, winters in Illinois suck.

[scottbre 0]

Being in the sky is great, but at this point I am inclined to agree with FallingILweenie, I'd be happy just being in California.

[PLFKING 4]

Michele...
My compliments....again.
Wow.
Don

[harro 0]

Im in Australia and we are going into summer here......suckers!!!!!
Freemind, freesky, freebeer, freefly, freesex

[wceviper 0]

Didn't you people know, California is expensive because we have good weather YEAR round. We just have weeks that suck once in a while, thats when I want a refund!
-Jason

[FallinWoman 1]

Michele,
Your writing continues to move me! You prove again and again that it IS possible to put into words what we all experience and feel. Thank you for sharing your gift with us!
Anne

[Michele 1]

It's been raining the last two days here. And that's NOT typical November weather.....
and I want to jump soooooooooooooo badly! I hope to get out there in a few weeks (2 at the most) like maybe Thanksgiving weekend....
Ciels-
Michele
"What of the dreams that never die? Turn to your left at the end of the sky".
~e e cummings~

[FallingILweenie 0]

I don't mean to be rubbing it in, but i think this is justified because in about 3 weeks we will be under 3 feet of snow with cabin fever till late May........but this weekend the forecast for Vandalia, IL sez 66 degrees and sunny. Just to remind everyone, this is Illinois and it's gonna be the third weekend in November. There is a skydiving god, and he loves us all.