Michele

Hey, SP! Good deal - and good on ya for organizing it. Hope you have a fantastic time! Ciels and Pinks- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

Why not both? It is Saturday, after all! Ciels and Pinks- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

Why'd you laugh? I thought it was pretty neat, seeing it! Far better than my faceplants...thanks for sharing it! The whole vid was cool. Ciels and Pinks- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

Just saw it - way cool video - which one are you? The first one down? Ciels and Pinks- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

Oh, it is....and far more slick than I can even believe. I swear, it already takes me near an hour to pack; with a slick canopy, I figure I'll be able to pack once a day....(oh, who am I kidding, I use packers! Just make sure I give them a decent tip). And I am sure it will be gorgeous! Ciels and Pinks- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

Not bloody likely, drenaline....not bloody likely! Although I have somehow promised to sign Lummy's boob, and I follow through on my promises! I just hope it's not similar to Clay's manboobies.... Ciels and Pinks- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

Thanks for your taking the time to respond, Jack. I do appreciate it. And I sincerely hope you don't regret being involved with this whole adventure. As I was not part of the negotiations in any way, I have no idea what goes on behind the scenes. Sorry you found this experience draining. Hoping all Perris jumpers remain safe and sound this weekend - Ciels and Pinks- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

Thanks for posting that, Jess! Great story! Ciels and Pinks- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

Hey, Lins! Oh no, I am still not ready for it. I figure at least one more day in the 230 standing them all up, and then perhaps, if the wind is right, I shall try it out. But man-oh-man, I want to see my own canopy over my head...I need to fly it a few times before I take the canopy control class, just to get a little used to it, anyway. And sorry, didn't mean to scare anyone with the colorful title...and yes, it does resemble my body, now that I think about it...(still pretty apparent bruising...10 days later. yikes!) Ciels and Pinks- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

Hey, Kato! Thanks for your confidence in me, but I am so not ready to even consider the notion of teaching anyone anything. I know next to nothing about this sport - my skillset leaves a lot to be desired...but! I am learning tons each time I get to jump, and that's a good thing. Ciels and pinks- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

Hi, Rachel. Sorry you took my post to mean that. Have a great evening, Ciels and Pinks- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

Hi, Bonny The truthful answer to your q is "I still have no idea", lol.... Try running a search with keyword as ESPN, and you should be able to get the whole story. To read the original stories and stuff, pop over to the front page here, go to "columns", and scroll down a bit. there are several articles by Michele Lesser (me), and the ones which they were really interested in were "Man, I owe so much beer" and "I went to Perris today". That should give you background. If you still have any questions, pm me, and I'll try to answer them. Ciels and Pinks- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

Hi, Bonny and Rachel I do believe that now is the time you both work it out privately, either in person or by pm's. I feel bad for both of you, and wish you both the very best. This isn't necessarily the place to take the conversation forward, though, o.k.? Many hugs, and quick healing to you both- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

Tuesday I receive an e-mail from Jack Gramley, informing me that there will be no jumping taking place during the ESPN taping on Wednesday...they seem to have been unable to reach a financial arrangement, or something like that. Needless to say, I am quite disappointed, but it's tempered by relief because now I won't have to worry about landings or winds or whatever. But I really wanted to jump with Joe Jennings. Sigh. Some things are too good to be true, I suppose. Maybe there'll be a last minute deal or something. I get a call from the crew confirming time and place, and asking me to bring all my training tapes, home videos, whatever else I have, because they may be able to use some of that. O.K., whatever. It's nearly 1am, and I can't sleep. I am so gonna screw this up. Should I call in sick or something? I'm chickening out. Fuck. ********** Wednesday It's hot by the time the two producer people get there about 9ish - one has done a tandem, but he will not be doing the interviewing...which means I will be discussing everything with a whuffo...no matter, that's who's going to be viewing the story, anyway. But you can see the culture shock happening to them when the language and freewheeling attitude gets through to them. And no last minute deal, either. I will be landbound until after the taping; if there's any time left or energy left then, we'll see. Shit. Oh well. That'll make some of my detractors happy. We get introductions made, and get set up in one of the classrooms. Joe walks in, great huge grin and loud exhuberance. Makes me laugh. He comments on my Dropzone.com t-shirt, and tells me he knows Sangiro, and to send his regards. Joe is kind, and, once he realizes I am disappointed about not getting airtime with him, he promises me he will jump with me someday - maybe not today, but someday. Makes me feel better, that does. Even if it never happens, it makes me feel good. And he's a cutie, too. Something gets said about the videos from my student days, and Jack's face gets a really worried look. He says something like "you can't use them", and I retort "why not? Aren't they mine?" and Jack gets kind of mad, and walks away with one of the producers. I am still not altogether sure what that was about - or how it will get resolved. Just makes me really uncomfortable. We go and set up under the tree outside of Sq.1, and get it all ready to go. We are going to interview Ed first, because he has to be somewhere by noon, so gotta get him taken care of first. I see Ed land from a tandem, and go get him, and tease him a little. I can see him getting all formal and tight, not nervous exactly, but really aware and somewhat cautious of language and what he's going to say. He is a doll, being this worried. He does the interveiw, and says some really cool things, both about the sport and about me. Then they have us walk through the mock-up, floating exit, level 5 stuff, and then takes us off to the creepers and we dirt dive some stuff. I'm kinda bored, because it is fake, you know? But no-one will ever know the difference. I'm getting goofy, because it's hot, and now they want me to get into a student jumpsuit and want closeups of the zipping it up, and then getting the rig on. I get the direction to walk out towards the plane, and so I do...and then, thinking I am off camera, I ham it up a tad, skipping...and then Joe calls out "that's great - do it again"...so now I'm skipping around looking for all the world like a smurf going somewhere, and feeling about as dumb as I have ever felt. Oh well. Maybe they'll edit it out...please God... Time for Vinnie's interview, and he has forgotten the details of the mal. I remind him, and he remembers it. He is great, because he tells it like it was for me - they were never sure if I was gonna come back or not; he talked a bit about how hard it was for me, and how I "muddled" through that fear somehow. Then somehow they get to a part of the conversation where Vinnie answers some question with "oh, we just called her Michele From Hell", which is true, and now that it's preserved for posterity. Vinnie has to go back to work, and now it's my turn... They mike me up, and we start. Then stop, because of manifest's calling a plane load. Start, then stop for the plane. Start, then stop again because a bunch of people come and are screaming and hollering at their friends who are doing tandems, waving at them like they a) can see, and b) could answer. Start again and then stop again because a group of people are packing behind me, and are being their loud, boisterous selves, lauding each other on a jump, accusing each other of "fucking funneling that one, asshole", and so forth. I am giggling, because the producer is getting a tad steamed, but there's nothing to be done - that's life at a DZ, you know? We wait until they walk off, and now we have to re-set up because the sun has moved, and I'm "hot" (whatever that means) and blasting the camera. 20 minutes later, and now we're ready to go... A curly headed lad with great blue eyes comes tooling over, and stands behind Joe, who he obviously knows. He watches for a while, and then, during a break, introduces me to him..."Michele, this is Fritz. Fritz, this is Michele. She's an up and coming jumper". And then Joe introduces me to someone named Ziggy, who is a rigger and knows Joe. Everyone knows Joe, and this is kewlio by me...'cause I get to meet them, too, and it never hurts to know more jumpers at your DZ. We get back to taping, and we are talking about different things, when I realize that we are going a little closer than I want towards "there she was, just 4 seconds away from a grisly death, when by a miracle, she saves herself", which is far from the truth...so I stop the taping, and tell the producer I want to focus more on what went right, too...on trust and faith, in ones self, the JM's and the equipment. He understands, and we move into another direction from there. During a break, I ask Joe why it's taking so long with me, am I doing o.k., it didn't take so long with Ed and Vinnie. Joe reassures me I am doing fine, great in fact and that the producer is just looking for nuances and little things like that. he's just asking me a question and letting me talk, without interruption, with little or no coaching. I am still not sure I am doing o.k., though. 45 minutes later I am still answering questions, yammering on, and I am (amazingly) getting tired of talking - I have been "miked" for over 2 hours. Not that it's boring, I just can't think of much more to say that will add anything of import or value to all this. It's coming close to 3:30, anyway, and we've been at this since around 10, and we take a quick break for lunch. That's when I finally figure out who Fritz is. Joe makes the comment that he'd like to read my stories and I tell him I'll e-mail him the link to them here. Time to go back to work, and now it's just harness room stuff, and since there is no instructor available, it's Jack's turn. They strap me in, and flash photos in front of me, and I so hope I'll have the right response. I am supposed to take a good hard look at the photo, and then take the proper action - we're in the harness room looking for cutaway procedure stuff - so I suspect I will be having to look, reach, pull. Jack flashes a photo in front of me, and I take a hard look - and then reach for my toggles, and do a control check. He's flashed a pix of a perfectly good canopy....Thank God I didn't cutaway, that would have been horribly embarrassing. We go on to some other photos, which call for responses, and I get them right. Phew. We tromp out to the school again, and now they have me play with this purple and pink canopy (Stewie's)...it's a Stiletto, and I point out I would not be jumping that, but the producer thinks the colors are good, and whuffos won't know. And then, then...then I get my cardboard box. It's my canopy!!!!!! I yank it out, and am standing there, kinda fondling it, and Joe says flake it out, but it's hard because there's no rig to balance it against, so it keeps sliding to the floor. It's sooooo cool to see my own canopy...it's pretty and new and sliding all around and I will never get it into the D bag, and Joe is laughing at me trying to get it back into the box. Day is over, and we are done. ESPN has 3 hour long tapes, and seem to think things went well...I sit on the patio with Joe, waiting for Arizona Vengeance to be finished training, because I have a home cooked dinner for them. He and I chat a bit, and he is just the nicest guy. He reminds me of our future jump, and my promise to send him the stories link. I ask him to sign my log book, and he does - with a very sweet message of encouragement and compliment. Fritz and I chat a bit, and he tells me to come to his camp in two weeks...I tell him I've only belly flown and have only 38 jumps, and he says "So? Come anyway!". I dunno if I will, though, but it would be fun. I get hugs from everyone, and walk over to AZV, and lay out on a bench, and wait for them to finish. I am so damned tired, and it's all I can do to remain cheerful and chatty while I am getting their dinner together. I get the guys fed (I love cooking for large groups), and then start the 90 minute drive home at 8:30 p.m....I am so tired I fall asleep in the bathtub. ******** Thursday I am elated, sad, and worried, all at the same time. I had a lot of fun, even though it was really hard. I hope I did o.k., I hope it comes out o.k., and I really wanted to jump with Joe, but that was not to be. Maybe some other time. Would I do this again? Most likely, if it came my way again. But it was supremely wierd, too, even having been raised around this stuff. Everyone associated with ESPN has been so very nice to me, made me feel secure and competent and capable of doing this. But it still was just simply like spending the day at the Twilight Dropzone... All in all, I believe I did o.k. Now it's up to post production to see the end product. I'm told it is set at the moment for September 16, but will know more for sure in short order. I jokingly asked for "final edit approval" and they said "no". They weren't joking. And for all of you who have been so amazingly supportive, and wonderfully sweet about this, I thank you so very much! It has made a difference to me! Ciels and Pinks- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

Yes, the ESPN thing was yesterday. I'll get something up about that later - I'm still in overload - both good and bad - and frankly have a serious case of Dragon Ass today. I think a nap is in order! My green, purple and yellow surprise was, sadly, not free, and has been gently loved and well taken care of. It is not a jumpsuit, nor a new pair of shoes...A Spectre 210, inspected and in excellent condition, which I bought through a "connection" here on these boards...and got a stupendous deal on it, too, even though I am not exactly ready for it...2 toesies landings on the 230 does not make me ready for the new, smaller canopy - one more day of stand-ups, and I may be willing to try it. My rigger checked it out, and told me "grab it, darlin', it don't get better than this". It has 203 jumps on it, and while I am thrilled with it, I am dismayed, too...I took it out of the cardboard box (24x24), and it took 20 freakin' minutes to get it to go back in. I am NEVER going to get it into a d-bag. But I love it! Thanks, Phree! And yay, Quinten - the check's going in tomorrow's mail.l Thanks for the deal! Ciels and Pinks- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

HH, thank you for all you do for us. You really are amazing and kewl and you rawk! I am sure we will all be very patient with the move! Ciels and Pinks- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

What's green, purple and yellow and sitting in a cardboard box on top of my china hutch? Huh? Can anyone make a wild guess? C'mon, give it a go.

Sending all good thoughts to you, Amber.....and I know you'll be just fine! Let us know how it goes.

Welcome home, Betsy, to where ever your heart is right here and now...welcome home! Ciels and Pinks- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

Nope, not part of the speed star thing! Thanks, Quade! You didn't show my Knock Knee-d position! Know what? I've watched that video like 50 times, and am learning much from it! Can't thank you enough...Quade, you rawk! Ciels and Pinks- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

Hey, Sharkie! I most certainly plan on being there! Whhhhhheeeeeeeeee! Just a quick question, though... The title of your post reads yada blah blah October 02...do you mean the year (as in this one), or October 2, 2002? Cause if it's the latter, there's a discrepency on the dates from the front page article. Just wondering! Ciels and Pinks- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

I am stiff and sore from Wednesday's crash landings. Driving through the mist and fog which uncharacteristically shrouds the hills, creeping onto the freeway, I wonder how I will fare today ...will I land on my feet or my face? And if I land on my face, will I be as lucky as before? I am still shaken. As the glowing orange sun rises and begins to burn off the surface mist, I pull in to the dz. I go inside Square One, and Frank sees me, greeting me cheerfully as always. He pulls my gear out, and he and I begin to talk. How many jumps are on this canopy, did they fix the wee bitty hole I spotted (not really even a hole, just more like a frayed spot). Frank and I compare riser lengths from "my" canopy to all the others, discuss what to look for for problems with the canopy, and we find the hole. He explains it's far too bitty to worry about, and shows me how they gage if it's spreading. We discuss the differences between a Sabre2 and a Spectre, and we decide that I will remain with the Spectre. I know this canopy, and it just wouldn't do me right to jump a new canopy until we figure out what the issue is: me or the canopy. We talk about wrapping lines around hands, how to see if that's what I need to do; how to check if the brake lines are in trim or not. I bundle up my gear, and take it to the packing area. I ask my packer to please check the brake lines and straighten them out if necessary. I explain the problems I have had flaring, and while I suspect the cause is me, it never hurts to verify that the equipment is in working order, either. He packs me up, and tells me that he has unkinked the brake lines, they were twisted up, but he's seen my landings, and thinks it might be me, too. Damn. I was hoping that I didn't have to be responsible for this flaring thing. Oh well, it's me, and I had best do it right today. I get to talking to Jack Gramley and Paul Quade. Don Ellisor from Arizona Vengeance shows up, and we go off to breakfast. During breakfast, Quade comes up, and we start talking about techniques for judging flare height and timing, how visual clues are vital. Quade takes me through some "looking" exercises, standing on the stairs and looking at things in the distance, and then standing on a bench, and on ground level, to get a better visual picture. We go back to his trailer, and go over basic canopy physics, using the dry erase board. We decide that I will try a dynamic stall, real fast burying of the toggles, and see how my body feels under the canopy, and then immediately afterwards a static stall, very slow and "quiet", and how my body feels under that. Quade explains I need to be between these extremes, somewhere in the middle, and how to determine if I need to flare faster or slower. I am sitting there, and I understand him intellectually, but will I be able to do this at landing time??? I shudder. But I'll never know if I don't jump. There is no wind yet, and I decide that until I can get on my feet landing this canopy, I won't jump in no winds. At Quade's suggestion, I sit there, watching load after load of people land, looking hard to see when they flare, and what kind of landing it produces. Quade has pointed out someone who was pumping the toggles - flapping like a bird, and told me here's a bad landing, and voila, Quade was right...the guy tanked. Quick mental note: do not flap like a bird....it doesn't work. Which makes me think maybe I should watch a bird, and see how they land. You know what? They don't flap when they land. They level out and reach with their feet. I go around, scaring the sparrows into flight, so I can watch them land over and over. I watch their chests rise, and their wings extend and change angles, and somehow am able to get a comparison to the canopies I am seeing landing...good landings have the same kind of dynamic going on - tail dropping, mass shifting slightly forward, sort of stretching out...I am not terribly sure if I know what the hell I am talking about, but I think I see it... The winds pick up enough for me to jump - a solo - I want to open high, do the exercises Quade has suggested, then play a bit. I manifest, and my heart beats harder. I gear up, get ready, my palms are sweaty and my hands are shaking so badly I can't seem to get the chest strap done up. Finally I am set, sitting in the summer heat, fully geared, 10 minutes to take off. I stand up on one of the benches, and practice flaring, drawing odd glances from my fellow jumpers. Never mind, thinks me, I need to get this picture right, and keep on pretending I am landing. Jim Wallace walks up, and I climb down and ask him for a gear check. He obliges, tells me I'll land fine. I guess he knows what I am doing. I blush, again remind myself I can do this, and I'll be just fine. My knees whack together, and I am slowly melting. Into the plane, light load so there's a bit of room. I rehearse and rehearse the landing, and then remember I should do something in freefall, too. I figure a dive exit, and maybe a backflip or two, and then just some turn practice. Altitude, now to the door. Look at the spot, watch the guy in front of me go, count him down and gone, and then out -reach-stretch-arch, look for the plane, smile at the sky. Here I am, sailing above the ground, feeling the whooshing wind distort my skin, and I giggle...this is the most amazing thing, this flying around, the most exhilarating...hmmm...my goggles are sliding up on my cheeks....that's odd...check alti, 9k, o.k., no problem...what's whapping on my neck? Holy crud, risers? No, geez, my braid has gotten loose and is burble dancing....8K...turn 360, 180, 360, 90, 90 ...now what? Sudden coolness hits my forehead, my bangs are out, 6.5K, my neck is cooling off, my neck is stretching, my head is lifting off, shit, I'm gonna lose my helmet. I decide no backloop, try to remember what to do if the helmet and goggles fall off....I can't recall that...o.k., totally still, no turns, ride this column of air, check alti, time to pull, clear airspace, reach, tug, stand, beautiful opening perfectly on heading, hands to my head, helmet still there, whack it back into place, and I start giggling. Check out the canopy, all looks good, so I do a dynamic stall. GACK!! my heart begins to pound even harder. As I drop backwards through the air, I feel like I'm falling...but the canopy remains inflated, and I don't loop the loop, so I figure I'm o.k. Then I do a really slow flare. That was neat...sort of hanging there, just still and really quiet. Another dynamic stall, and this time I am more ready for the backwards elevator feeling, but it still is freaky. Once I am flying stable I let go of my toggles, after reassuring myself that the little metal thing won't let them get free, and run my eyes up the brake lines. I am looking for some sort of slack, a little bowing of them; there is none. I reach up and sort of rattle the right one, to make sure I am looking at the right thing. I am. I bring my eyes to the trailing edge, and it is ever so slightly pulling, there is tension, and I am not touching the toggles. I am not going to take a wrap at all - the brakes are off a bit, I think... I look back in front of me, trying to decide what difference this discovery makes, and there, I see a tandem opening to my left and above me. I watch the camera guy return to his belly and take off...tracking across my field of view. How cool to watch the tandem canopy open, blossom and fill out, a rainbow splash against the searing blue sky. How excellent that it is fully open! I want to watch the camera guy track and open too, but realize that I am flying with the wind and I may end up close to him, so I immediately flat turn my canopy around, cruise a little bit, and then hang on the rear risers, trying to put more altitude between he and I. I know he's far better than me, knows what he's doing, but still, I can't be sure he sees me...I fly around, and play on the thermals, and watch a guy actually gain altitude. This is unnerving - I had better start looking for dust devils. I count 7 of them in the next 800 feet, but none near where it looks like I am gonna land. I get set into the landing pattern, but realize I have utterly misjudged the strength of the wind - as I turn into it, I find I am descending rapidly, not getting much forward movement at all. I forgot to do a penetration check high enough to make it back to the peas, so I look out, down, and forward, a deep breath, now the ground is coming, and I start the flare and I plane out a bit, feel the flattening movement this time, but I am still a tad bit high, so I hold it there and now, now, finish it out, no sudden movement, no flapping, smooth, steady. Remembering the birds, I feel the canopy ever so slightly swing me forward, just a tad, and I reach down with both feet...and then I feel the ground under me, and I step out, and turn and collapse the canopy and run around to the other side and just sort of whoop it up and do the Snoopy happy dance - I really don't have to tank every one, not all the time! Yahhhhhhoooooo! I smell the hot dirt and the dryness, and, with sweat pouring off me, I climb into the truck, tool on back to the packing area, satisfied and far more relaxed than I had been 15 minutes before. Nothing hurts, and I have no new bruises to explain...I am all smiles, and Greg, my packer, has seen it, and in his low-key kind of way, tells me "I like that better than watching you crash, Michele.". I giggle. Me too! I hook up with Don, and we are gonna jump together. Me, with 37 jumps, and him with something like 4000! The winds are being a bit flaky, switching around, but it calms down enough for me to manifest us. Quade gonna come and video us. Ohmigod! How most excellent is this? Rawk on! Oh shit, I am nervous. We decide on a floating exit, with Don grabbing my leg, and it's time to gear up. I am excited now, shaky too, but excited, and Vectorboy comes over and gives me a hug. He says he saw my last landing, and thought it was excellent, and to just do it again, so I promise him I will. After all, landing on my feet is far better than landing on my bumpers....front or rear. We dirt dive, just fall rate control, and if all is going well, he will do a 360 and I should imitate him. We go to the mock-up, and he shows me how he presents - with one foot hanging out of the door...and I try to believe I can do that, too, since I have the count, and get into the position in the mockup, but slip out...oh, he is so going to hate jumping with me, but I am gonna so love jumping with him!!!! I tell him I'm scared I'll kick him in the head or something, and he reassures me he's been kicked by far bigger people than me, and grins. "Let's go play", says he. Time to go, and in the plane, Don tells me how he mentally goes through the jump, slowly at first, and then speeds it up, till he is blistering fast in his mind, and it's automatic for him - that he is not thinking about the move he's doing right now, but the next one. I try to do this, but still only manage to go molassas slow in my head. It's hot, I'm nervous but not terribly frightened, and I am still preoccupied with the landing. Was the last one a fluke? Or can I repeat it? I see the sparrows' flight and landing in my head again. At altitude, goggles on, braid secure under their strap, helmet on, wipe my sweating palms on my knees, scoot down, shit, there's the open door, wipe my hands again, Quade gets out, I get my hands on the bar, I'm out. I am too scared to stick my foot out like Don, but get my shoulders kind of angled out, look at Quade, nod, then at Don, nod and ready (out) set (in) go release and I am flying again, reaching for the sun, looking for the plane - now Don's in front of me, grasping my arms, and I grin...he's in a fullface helmet, and he grins back...releases me, and down he goes. I arch, and down I go. Up he goes, zooming past me, and I struggle to come up. I feel very flat, and sort of offkilter, and I drift to the right. I of course reach for him with my left arm, which makes me go right even more. Boom, he's in front of me again, and goes down. I go down again, and this time, as he goes up, I kind of get back up there, but get an odd body position - knees low, chest high. No matter, he's grinning at me, and I am grinning back, and then he does this really zippy 360 - had I blinked I'd've missed it. I try one, and he could have taken a nap by the time I got full circle. Break off time, I wave, turn, track, and, in thinking how fun that was, got a stupid chipping track going. I stop, and track again....and then realize everything looks a bit low. Check my alti, and reach and throw in a hurry - not low by anyone else's standards, but opening alti was supposed to be 4k, and I'm at 3700 by the time I reach to pull...I am in the saddle by 2700, and control checked by 2500. I practice stalls again, and just sail around. A 12 way had gone out before us, so there were a lot of canopies around. I do a penetration check, and understand that I will sink like a stone, realize I will be nowhere near the peas again, because I am not getting anywhere on my crosswind but a little more sideways and farther away from the landing area. The winds have picked up again, and, checking for nasty dust devils, I see none. I flat turn onto final, and, as there are no flags near me for me to gage the wind direction, I go by the feel of the canopy...take a deep breath, relax, realize I am not fully into the wind but still a tad crosswise. As I drift toward the right, I gently depress my left toggle, trying to get a bit more into the wind, and begin my flare a bit high. Not a problem, hold it shit I am being pushed hard to the right, "Fly it all the way to the ground, I can do this"...I bring my left toggle down but not the right one, and get back in charge...and here comes the ground, and now, flare. My toggles are not even, but am perfectly balanced under canopy. I stretch my toes - wait - and with a little poof of dust I am perfectly on my feet, this gigantic canopy still inflated over my head. I drop one toggle and pull as hard as I can on the other set of risers, and it still isn't coming down. I am being pulled forward. I reach up, grab the lines, pull, reeling it in like a really big fish, but it won't lie down and I am still getting pulled along so I dig my heels in and lean backwards and finally it whooshes down, and then fills again...so I grab the lines and pull with all my might, and when it lays down this time I run around the back of it, feet all tangled in the lines, and grab ahold of the pilot chute and the canopy starts to come up onto me but I am on the downwind side so it can't go anywhere but in my face. It does, and I giggle...I've landed on my toesies again! And had a great jump before that, and learned tons. I climb into the truck, and Tim says "I saw your landing - good job", as I sit there and grin like a fool... I hook up with Quade and Don, both of whom have landed in the landing area and not in BFE like me, and we go watch the video. It's a little embarrassing, because Don and Quade are so good, and I am so NOT good, but then Don says, "hell, at 40 jumps, I couldn't have stayed in frame at all. You don't give yoruself enough credit, Michele". I grin like the giggling fool I am. I hand Don my log book to sign, and there he writes: "Good job. Be confident! It's all just pushing wind!". Phew! Ceils and Pinks- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

ROFLMAO....that would be tooooo funny...then chase them out...can you imagine the students' faces with that one? ROF! Ciels and Pinks- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~

2 (the number of times I was at the DZ this week) 5 (total jumps between Wednesday and Sunday) 1 (bought and paid for!) Beer owed because I got a coached jump with Don Ellisor/AZVengeance, with Quade flying camera. Whhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeee! The both of them are soooooooo good, and I am so 38 jumps bad...mucho learning (canopy and freefall stuff), mucho accomplished. Phew! Me so tired... Oh! No new bruises. This is a good thing. The old ones are still quite colorful and large.

None. I squint alot, though. LOL! Ciels and Pinks- Michele ~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek While our hearts lie bleeding?~