Skydiving, and I’m not good at schedules
My debut novel’s cover was revealed yesterday! But I’m too panicky to talk at length about that yet. Instead, I want to ramble about my last weekend.
My partner and I took a weekend trip to beautiful Vancouver Island with my in-laws. The weather was hot, hot, hot. The seafood there gave our little ol’ Calgarian tastebuds murderous envy, food was so fresh you can taste the fish wriggle. We had uneasy sleeps, too much ice cream, and then drove out to Nanoose Bay to jump out of a 6-seater airplane at 10 000 feet (or 3050 metres).
We took off and landed at an equestrian field, with a lavender boutique attached. The air was still and humid. The sky speckled with hawks and turkey vultures. Our tandem instructors were chatty and delightful. The rest was caught in pricey go-pro videos.
I think in the video, my face was quite calm. I’d love to say it was true: that I was a stone-cold jumper too manly for it all. The reality was — freefall was a blur of motion, a moment of bewilderment, and then… a lot of instructions to follow. Tilt my head, bend my knees, spread my arms, look at the camera.
After the parachute opened, the air was hot, the wedgie was painful, and the sights were indescribable. The spin of the the coastline and yellow fields. Barns and houses remained tiny until the last seconds. We came in fast across the field, we landed into grass stains and high-fives.
My partner always says I’m an adrenalin junkie, but I don’t think that rings quite true. In all the things I’ve ever done: flew in a Tiger Moth biplane, stumbled upon an angry elephant, nearly stepped on a crocodile, and now the jump… I don’t think I ever felt much adrenalin at all. There’s no rush, no raised heartbeat, no shakiness (I only get those bluffing in boardgames or dying 17 times in Elden Ring).
There is just wonder. The world is rich with it: swelling, pulsing, volatile and explosive with wonder. And this weekend was another chance I had to partake in it.
PS. I’m not good at keeping up with these blogs, and I don’t know I ever will be. I’ll post when I can, and when I think I have a page or two to share. I wonder if anyone will ever read these.