Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth...

One of my favorite poems is High Flight, by John Gillespie Magee, Jr:

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds, --and done a hundred things

You have not dreamed of --Wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air...

Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark or even eagle flew --

And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

Recent high flights:

- Bret and his dad went skydiving!  It was Bret's parents' gift to him for his birthday in April, but they had to wait to go until their schedules and the weather all cooperated.  They went on a beautiful, HOT day in August...perfect blue skies!






Jumping out of a plane...just your average father/son bonding activity.

 


Gabe helping Bret practice the freefall position.





Coming in for landing.




Bret's tandem instructor was a guy I went to highschool with - small world!





- In September, we went to visit Sara in Idaho and her boyfriend Jared took us flying!  We did loops and went weightless and I'm pretty sure I giggled like a maniac for 90% of my flight.  There was even knee-slapping.

Yes, I said knee-slapping.  Because apparently, my spontaneous instinctual reaction to having extreme amounts of fun is to slap my knee like a 1940's grandpa. 

Anyway, I would love love love to get my pilot's license. Bret's dad has started lessons to get his...so maybe I'll talk him or Jared into teaching me someday.  Now there's an idea! 



Landing




That's me in the back.




- In early October, I got to go on my third hot air balloon flight!  Perhaps not the kind of fun that inspires knee-slapping, but amazing nonetheless!  My parents generously expanded their "romance aloft flight for two" and invited the rest of us along for the ride.  (Though really, how romantic could it have been, with the balloon pilot there as well?  It's not like he could step away and give a couple any privacy...)

We helped hold the balloon open in front of a big fan so it could begin to inflate, and Mom and Dad took this job very seriously.  The bottom of the balloon opening was lifting up and blocking the inflow, so Mom went in to remedy the problem.  So cute.

Phase 2 of inflation - heating the air inside the balloon.

I was a bit concerned Dad wasn't going to let go (remember, I said my folks were taking our roles in getting the balloon off the ground very seriously).

The basket turned out to be roomier than we expected...we could've easily fit a few more!

It was an eventful few months for us!