I'm Flying ! JoAnn Ellis

I’m flying! I’m flying! I always wanted to know how a bird feels when they soar above the earth and now I know. It took a lot of nerve. I really never thought I could be brave enough to jump out of an airplane. I am still not sure if I jumped on my own or if someone had to give me a little shove, but here I am just floating like a feather in a summer breeze.

Until my chute opened, I don’t think I have ever been more frightened in my life. Maybe in time I will learn to enjoy the freefall part of the jump but this time I was scared spit less. My mouth felt as dry as cotton. I felt paralyzed, too frightened to even scream. My stomach was in my mouth. My clothes were whipping like they do in a Santa Ana wind, adding to the noise of my body breaking the air. I knew my family was going to see me splattered on the ground because the parachute wouldn’t deploy. I was so glad I had decided to use a static line to open the chute because I am not sure I could have made my hands pull the chord until it was too late. The static line method of opening your chute also makes the freefall shorter, and the way my mind was conjuring up horrible images my chute couldn’t open too soon.

Now that my chute is open, and I am floating down, I can relax a little. In fact, I am thoroughly enjoying myself. Now it is quiet and peaceful just as I had imagined it would be when I have enviously watched a bird floating with the wind. I can see for miles and the view is so much more spectacular from up here. It is like looking at an artist’s landscape, one that includes all of the beautiful colors, unlike when you are on the ground and see just one tree or hill at a time.

I would like this experience to last forever, but good old terra firma is approaching rapidly, and it is worry time again. Am I going to be able to hit the ground without breaking a leg or worse yet without cracking my head open? Here it comes! Here it comes! Gravity does exist. Oh, wow, my butt is taking a beating. Oh good I see someone running to help me. If they save me I promise never to do this again--at least not until I get the nerve up to do it again.

Well, I did it. Did I enjoy the ride? It was a little like flying in an airplane. The takeoff and the landing is the only part I ever feel any uncertainty about. Would I do it again? It is a little too soon to answer that question. I need a little more time to absorb my feelings and discern whether the takeoff and landing is worth the ride.