Hot hot hot - August 8, 2009
Dear friends and family -
It's been a long time since I wrote....and as you all hopefully have seen, it's been an eventful couple of weeks! So to start, last weekend I went skydiving up in Sturtevant, Wisconsin with Carire Ziegler-Thomas. I had asked her earlier this summer what she wanted to do for her 30th birthday, and she said that she wanted to jump out of a plane, so we set it up. The morning of August 1, I got up early and kind of nervous and got in the car on my way to Wisconsin. We got to the airport as soon as the clouds rolled in and the wind was really high and it was sprinkling a bit. We filled out our paperwork and went into the hanger for "ground school". Ground school wasn't the most informative - the instructor seemed more interested in getting us to get our licenses and take a full for-real ground school than to teach us a whole lot. He tried to make some jokes, but everyone in the class was too nervous so we hardly laughed. Especially as the jokes were about dying while skydiving.
So by the time we got out of ground school, the first group of people went up in the plane. We got to watch them come down, and our tummies were a little scared and butterfly-y....but then the plane parked. For hours we waited with the plane just parked because of the weather and I was afraid that we were going to be told that we couldn't jump. I didn't know if I could gather the nerve to ever come back if we didn't get to jump. Around 11:30 we were really hungry and got permission to go to grab something to eat. Neither of us could tolerate much, so we just each got an order of fries to fill the hole and tide us over until after we jumped.
It was probably near 3 p.m. by the time they called our group to gear up. Now it was really real - we were really going to go. Our filmmakers interviewed each of us before we boarded the plane, and we met our tandem instructors. Carrie's wasn't very chatty because he had to do a jump with the group before us, but my instructor, John the Tandem Master, was really nice and told us about how he met his wife skydiving.
Finally, it was time to board the plane. I have only ever been in one comparably-sized plane before - very very small. And that was flying over the Andes down into the jungle in Bolivia! We climed in - there were 2 benches and we sat instructor, student, instructor student (4 people per bench). Then the camera guys got in and sat on the floor in front of us and tried to freak us out. By the time we were going down the runway I looked around and had the sudden realization, wait a minute, I'm the closest person to the exit! Am I going to jump first? Holy cow!!!
So we took off, and it was pretty cloudy but we had a good view of the farmland and highway and as I was looking out the window my legs started to shake almost uncontrollably. I was trying to get myself calmed down but it was very clear that there was really no turning back. We had a 2 minute warning, and our instructors cinched us to them nice and tight.....
Then the side door opened. My camera guy climbed out and was holding onto the plane as my instructor and I inched toward the door - I was barely in position when all of a sudden we were out!!!
Freefall is the most amazing feeling known to man - you're a bird, you're a plane, you're a superhero - it's so loud with the wind rushing past your ears (and up your nose) at 120 miles per hour! It's like swimming in the sky - nothing between the heaven and earth but you and the clouds...I have struggled to find better words to explain it but I just can't - it's so remarkable....
My camera guy never got close enough for me to grab his hands so I didn't get that experience, but Carrie got to grab her camera guy's hands and feet while he videotaped her (we each had our own camera guy)....
The freefall lasts only a minute, and it really didn't feel long enough...I wish I could have been freefalling forever - when else do you get a chance to really fly?
Then the parachute deployed - my instructor pulled the ripcord - he didn't even give me a warning. The parachute going up is a jarring experience, but once you get settled and adjusted then you get to take the handles and spin the chute around and fly the canopy in different directions. I have to tell you, though, that if you spin too many times it'll make your whole body spin and that could have potentially icky outcomes, but the nice thing is that I had the realization that hey, I'm the one holding the reins here so if I want to stop spinning, I can! We flew all over as we descended - it is really really amazing....landing was soft as can be and I wish I could have gotten right back in the plane and done it again....
So in a nutshell, skydiving is beyond worth it - it makes you feel so alive - and so superhuman....I just can't adequately describe it but if you've ever considered doing it PLEASE DO!!! You will love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=xM-NsdMfAs
http://facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/album.php?aid=2204443&id=2415172
Carrie had a great time too - I bet it's a birthday she'll never forget. My gift to her was her photos and video....She said that watching me go first and disappear out the door of the plane was the most scary part because "people don't usually just exit a flying airplane"....
********************************************************************************
This weekend is super hot and humid and so Sumi and I are just trying to lay low. She's not improving or regressing - so it's been quite frustrating. I really want her to get better but I don't think she will get better without surgery. Keep praying for us....
********************************************************************************
On the medical front, I went to the doctor the day before skydiving and we are in the process of trying a new medication, Cymbalta, to manage the stress/depression issues and the pain. I have to titrate off my old antidepressants while I titrate onto the Cymbalta, but hopefully by the end of the month I will be up to the full dose that helps with the pain. I have to confess, I didn't tell the doctor about skydiving for the same reason I didn't tell many other people before it happened. I didn't want anyone worrying about me or trying to talk me out of it. Because it was TOTALLY worth it!!!! Now people can just be amazed at how awesome Carrie and I are!
**********************************************************************************
On the movie front, I wanted to share a little video montage that my mom found in tribute to John Hughes who passed away this week. He's a great moviemaker -
http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-us&from=MSNHP
or go to stupidvideos.com and search for "John Hughes Tribute".
Don't ever bother watching the movie "Awake". It's one of the worst movies with the worst writing and worst acting. And FYI - it's about someone being awake during surgery but unable to convey that he is awake. It was shamefully bad....
And if you're a fan of Ireland and Irish movies, which are definitely different from other movies in that they have a dark and sadness to them even in their magic and beauty, please watch The Secret of Roan Inish. It's especially cool if you're familiar with Irish folklore. But I can't guarantee that the average film-watcher will love this movie if they have never seen an Irish film or read Irish folklore, because it's not a conventionally appealling film. But I loved it.
It's been a long time since I wrote....and as you all hopefully have seen, it's been an eventful couple of weeks! So to start, last weekend I went skydiving up in Sturtevant, Wisconsin with Carire Ziegler-Thomas. I had asked her earlier this summer what she wanted to do for her 30th birthday, and she said that she wanted to jump out of a plane, so we set it up. The morning of August 1, I got up early and kind of nervous and got in the car on my way to Wisconsin. We got to the airport as soon as the clouds rolled in and the wind was really high and it was sprinkling a bit. We filled out our paperwork and went into the hanger for "ground school". Ground school wasn't the most informative - the instructor seemed more interested in getting us to get our licenses and take a full for-real ground school than to teach us a whole lot. He tried to make some jokes, but everyone in the class was too nervous so we hardly laughed. Especially as the jokes were about dying while skydiving.
So by the time we got out of ground school, the first group of people went up in the plane. We got to watch them come down, and our tummies were a little scared and butterfly-y....but then the plane parked. For hours we waited with the plane just parked because of the weather and I was afraid that we were going to be told that we couldn't jump. I didn't know if I could gather the nerve to ever come back if we didn't get to jump. Around 11:30 we were really hungry and got permission to go to grab something to eat. Neither of us could tolerate much, so we just each got an order of fries to fill the hole and tide us over until after we jumped.
It was probably near 3 p.m. by the time they called our group to gear up. Now it was really real - we were really going to go. Our filmmakers interviewed each of us before we boarded the plane, and we met our tandem instructors. Carrie's wasn't very chatty because he had to do a jump with the group before us, but my instructor, John the Tandem Master, was really nice and told us about how he met his wife skydiving.
Finally, it was time to board the plane. I have only ever been in one comparably-sized plane before - very very small. And that was flying over the Andes down into the jungle in Bolivia! We climed in - there were 2 benches and we sat instructor, student, instructor student (4 people per bench). Then the camera guys got in and sat on the floor in front of us and tried to freak us out. By the time we were going down the runway I looked around and had the sudden realization, wait a minute, I'm the closest person to the exit! Am I going to jump first? Holy cow!!!
So we took off, and it was pretty cloudy but we had a good view of the farmland and highway and as I was looking out the window my legs started to shake almost uncontrollably. I was trying to get myself calmed down but it was very clear that there was really no turning back. We had a 2 minute warning, and our instructors cinched us to them nice and tight.....
Then the side door opened. My camera guy climbed out and was holding onto the plane as my instructor and I inched toward the door - I was barely in position when all of a sudden we were out!!!
Freefall is the most amazing feeling known to man - you're a bird, you're a plane, you're a superhero - it's so loud with the wind rushing past your ears (and up your nose) at 120 miles per hour! It's like swimming in the sky - nothing between the heaven and earth but you and the clouds...I have struggled to find better words to explain it but I just can't - it's so remarkable....
My camera guy never got close enough for me to grab his hands so I didn't get that experience, but Carrie got to grab her camera guy's hands and feet while he videotaped her (we each had our own camera guy)....
The freefall lasts only a minute, and it really didn't feel long enough...I wish I could have been freefalling forever - when else do you get a chance to really fly?
Then the parachute deployed - my instructor pulled the ripcord - he didn't even give me a warning. The parachute going up is a jarring experience, but once you get settled and adjusted then you get to take the handles and spin the chute around and fly the canopy in different directions. I have to tell you, though, that if you spin too many times it'll make your whole body spin and that could have potentially icky outcomes, but the nice thing is that I had the realization that hey, I'm the one holding the reins here so if I want to stop spinning, I can! We flew all over as we descended - it is really really amazing....landing was soft as can be and I wish I could have gotten right back in the plane and done it again....
So in a nutshell, skydiving is beyond worth it - it makes you feel so alive - and so superhuman....I just can't adequately describe it but if you've ever considered doing it PLEASE DO!!! You will love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=xM-NsdMfAs
http://facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/album.php?aid=2204443&id=2415172
Carrie had a great time too - I bet it's a birthday she'll never forget. My gift to her was her photos and video....She said that watching me go first and disappear out the door of the plane was the most scary part because "people don't usually just exit a flying airplane"....
********************************************************************************
This weekend is super hot and humid and so Sumi and I are just trying to lay low. She's not improving or regressing - so it's been quite frustrating. I really want her to get better but I don't think she will get better without surgery. Keep praying for us....
********************************************************************************
On the medical front, I went to the doctor the day before skydiving and we are in the process of trying a new medication, Cymbalta, to manage the stress/depression issues and the pain. I have to titrate off my old antidepressants while I titrate onto the Cymbalta, but hopefully by the end of the month I will be up to the full dose that helps with the pain. I have to confess, I didn't tell the doctor about skydiving for the same reason I didn't tell many other people before it happened. I didn't want anyone worrying about me or trying to talk me out of it. Because it was TOTALLY worth it!!!! Now people can just be amazed at how awesome Carrie and I are!
**********************************************************************************
On the movie front, I wanted to share a little video montage that my mom found in tribute to John Hughes who passed away this week. He's a great moviemaker -
http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-us&from=MSNHP
or go to stupidvideos.com and search for "John Hughes Tribute".
Don't ever bother watching the movie "Awake". It's one of the worst movies with the worst writing and worst acting. And FYI - it's about someone being awake during surgery but unable to convey that he is awake. It was shamefully bad....
And if you're a fan of Ireland and Irish movies, which are definitely different from other movies in that they have a dark and sadness to them even in their magic and beauty, please watch The Secret of Roan Inish. It's especially cool if you're familiar with Irish folklore. But I can't guarantee that the average film-watcher will love this movie if they have never seen an Irish film or read Irish folklore, because it's not a conventionally appealling film. But I loved it.
posted by Kate @ 4:21 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home