A virgin no more, Part II
The day after the art reception, I went hang-gliding for the first time.
Corey took me to Dockweiler Beach in El Segundo, where they give lessons. He already has his “license” and his own glider, which he brought to do his own flying, and I took the lesson (which he generously gave me as a birthday present). The instructor, Paul, was a tall, thin, Zen/hippie kind of guy, with a great sense of humor and a fantastic way of explaining not only how to glide, but what my brain/body would be experiencing as well, with the new sensations and all. And then I was hooking my harness to the glider and walking to the edge of the hill, and then I was running, and then...I was FLYING!!
It was like every dream I’ve ever had of flying or floating (and I have a lot of them). I learned the physics of controlling the glider—when the wind makes it go one way, you move the bar the opposite way to keep it level. You learn how to feel the wind, how to move with it. The only thing I wasn’t getting was landing. I slid into home on my stomach more times than I could count.
But then, on my last flight, I remembered that I had control of my feet, and brought them up as I brought the wings of the glider up to land, and I landed upright! I could hear Corey and Paul cheering along with me, and it felt fantastic, like Nike (the winged goddess of victory, not the sneaker...). In actuality, it was a rather clumsy landing, but it felt awesome!!
Corey took the pictures of me flying, and then when he flew, I took pictures of him. He’s a natural! Like watching an angel, or Daedalus, fly (Icarus had a bit of a bad run)...I love watching the flights as much as I love doing it.
So I’m in love. With hang gliding. It’s expensive to take all of the lessons and then get your own glider, but once you have your certification and your glider, it’s not expensive at all. If I can do it someday, I’m going to. Until then, though, I can go to Dockweiler and keep taking lessons. Yeah, Flight School!
Corey took me to Dockweiler Beach in El Segundo, where they give lessons. He already has his “license” and his own glider, which he brought to do his own flying, and I took the lesson (which he generously gave me as a birthday present). The instructor, Paul, was a tall, thin, Zen/hippie kind of guy, with a great sense of humor and a fantastic way of explaining not only how to glide, but what my brain/body would be experiencing as well, with the new sensations and all. And then I was hooking my harness to the glider and walking to the edge of the hill, and then I was running, and then...I was FLYING!!
It was like every dream I’ve ever had of flying or floating (and I have a lot of them). I learned the physics of controlling the glider—when the wind makes it go one way, you move the bar the opposite way to keep it level. You learn how to feel the wind, how to move with it. The only thing I wasn’t getting was landing. I slid into home on my stomach more times than I could count.
But then, on my last flight, I remembered that I had control of my feet, and brought them up as I brought the wings of the glider up to land, and I landed upright! I could hear Corey and Paul cheering along with me, and it felt fantastic, like Nike (the winged goddess of victory, not the sneaker...). In actuality, it was a rather clumsy landing, but it felt awesome!!
Corey took the pictures of me flying, and then when he flew, I took pictures of him. He’s a natural! Like watching an angel, or Daedalus, fly (Icarus had a bit of a bad run)...I love watching the flights as much as I love doing it.
So I’m in love. With hang gliding. It’s expensive to take all of the lessons and then get your own glider, but once you have your certification and your glider, it’s not expensive at all. If I can do it someday, I’m going to. Until then, though, I can go to Dockweiler and keep taking lessons. Yeah, Flight School!
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