Hanging in there

Looking up

One thing about not having steps up to our apartment front door (that's it behind the watering can) and having to walk in an alley to the steps up to our back door is that I can see my front porch flowers from a new vantage point: looking up at them. In some ways they look prettier, since the sunshine means they are growing extremely well in ways I can't see from the front. The white petunias were a surprise, since I cannot see them in all their abundance from the front. The geraniums are sure doing well, looking good from both sides.

We had what, for me, was a very hot day yesterday. It got up to 84°F and was very warm inside our apartment. But fortunately for us, the temperatures today have fallen by at least ten degrees. It is, of course, summertime and most people expect warm weather. But since I'm not a fan of too much heat, I am thrilled by the current early afternoon temperature of 69°F. And I don't see any heat domes in our immediate future.

It's bird fledging time, and I've been watching some immature crows learning how to fly. You can always tell the babies, even though they're the same size as their parent, since they flap their wings helplessly and beg for food, even when they can manage it themselves. They are a little bit smaller with shinier wings, and they don't always make very graceful takeoffs and landings quite yet. I smiled at one youngster who I think had not been out of the nest for long, waddling to the edge of a roof and peering over the edge. I could almost hear him saying, "it's a long way down there!" Instead of taking off, he backed away and ran to Mummy for some courage. Since I was walking to the bus, I never saw whether he made the leap.

I envy them for their ability to fly. Learning how to navigate a canopy when I was a skydiver was not something that came naturally to me. Eventually I got the hang of it, but it was never the reason I jumped out of airplanes. I loved the freefall and deploying my canopy and landing it properly was a necessary part of the experience, if I wanted to do it again, at least. However, watching birds flying effortlessly brings back memories of my time under canopy. It's really fun to fly.

:-)

A mixed bag for Thursday

Skydive formation in Arizona

I really had to work to forgive myself for not making a Tuesday post. I thought of it several times during the day, and then promptly forgot about it when I started binge-watching on my laptop. My bad! And I know I said I'd write a blog post about my skydiving days, but I'll just put a few pictures in as snippets among some "photo safari" shots I took this week. Both me and SG are in this picture: I'm on the far left in purple, with his white legs directly underneath me. It's a favorite shot.

Lake Padden this morning

I decided to take one more week off from hiking with the Trailblazers, because my lower spine is still sore, but I really think I could have done it today. Instead, I walked around Lake Padden, and I did just fine, even if I'm not a speed demon (yet). The uphills were the only times I felt discomfort, but it was minimal, really. I was very happy to discover that. You can see that it's overcast, and the fisherman had just arrived on the dock to get started. A beautiful morning.

Fishermen's Memorial at Squalicum Harbor

Last Sunday Lily and I had a really nice walk around Squalicum Harbor together, a couple of miles, I'd guess, and I saw this cute little bird taking a look around from the top of the fisherman's head. Makes me smile every time I see this picture. The memorial is entitled "Safe Return," and lists many fishermen who didn't come home.

Boats in the harbor, with summer flowers

It was a lovely day, and we did enjoy ourselves. It's always a treat to have some time to spend with Lily, since she works every other weekend and I don't get to see her nearly often enough.

Moooo!

This morning at the coffee shop, one of the regulars, R.J., decided to show the cover of the most recent Cascadia Weekly. He is MUCH better looking than this guy.

Lily, me, John, looking pretty goofy

And another day when we were playing with that silly Messenger app, I got this picture and was looking for a good time to share it. We do have fun playing together; you would never know we are two old fogies and one quinquagenarian (yes, she really is in her fifties).

Landing after a skydive

I'll finish with this other favorite picture from my skydiving days. I had just had a wonderful skydive with a student who is still in the air. I suspect that fellow is watching her set up her landing pattern, but I don't remember for sure. I was an instructor for twelve years and enjoyed it very much.

I haven't made a skydive since 2015, and it's amazing that I don't miss it any more than I do. Every once in awhile I'll see something on Facebook that brings back memories, but my life has moved on. Twenty-five years was just enough. I've only been hiking for eleven and truly hope I've got more years yet to come to dance in the forests.
:-)

Long ago and far away

In the Indian Peaks wilderness

I'm not sure exactly when this picture of me was taken, but I recognize the setting: I volunteered for the US Forest Service in the 1980s to take people into the wilderness and teach them how to take care of it. This is the Indian Peaks wilderness area near Boulder, Colorado, where I lived.

It's sure not a recent picture, given the fact that my hair isn't white. But one thing that makes me happy is to be reminded that I have been involved in hiking and exercising much longer than I thought. And the years have passed, with me still (or I should say again) visiting wilderness areas on a regular basis.

There was a hiatus from this activity during the time I became a skydiver. The activity took over everything, including every last minute I spent outside of work. But it "only" lasted twenty-five years; now I am no longer skydiving but remember those years with fondness. I'm left with irreplaceable memories and a few lasting scars, but nothing that keeps me from hiking!
:-)

Favorite memories

Long ago and far away

I was sitting in bed this Saturday morning, reading my favorite blogs and thinking about the day, when I realized that I would be writing a post today and had no idea what I might want to write about. Then I began to think about memories I've shared that tell a story of love. This picture was taken a half century ago by my then-husband. That's actually me, with my little son Chris in a Michigan forest in winter. It's a picture I've cherished for many years. It has a feeling of sacred joy, to me, and I vaguely remember being there. We were looking at a bird in a nearby tree.

That wonder and joy still lives inside me, and I begin this season with it rising in my heart. I am thankful for all the little things that give me pleasure, like rising before the sun and making my way to join the ladies for our Saturday walk. Life is good.

Me in front, SG in back

I spent more than a quarter of a century jumping out of airplanes for fun and pleasure, and I met my wonderful partner through skydiving. Although it's now in the past, I'll never forget the fun we had flying our pretty parachutes around after a delightful time playing together in freefall. I cherish those memories and will as long as I live.

Melanie took this picture of us towards the end of our hike

And now, for as long as I can, I'll be spending every Thursday of the summer months hiking in the High Country, grateful for every single day I can do it with my dear senior companions. That's me in front, with Linda, Peggy, Noriko and Bob. In the winter months we still hike, just closer to home, rain or shine. This coming week I'll have to miss it, since I'll be a couple days past my first cataract surgery and will not yet be comfortable spending an entire day outdoors.

I have a pile of books next to my favorite chair, some from the library, some purchased, but all awaiting my attention. Yes, life is good. I hope you are enjoying your weekend, too.
:-)

Nostalgic dreams

Taken in Florida in 2007

Last night I dreamed that I needed to find a way to get some skydiving gear so that I could join my friends to play in freefall once again. I remember trying to figure out how I could get some nice cheap but functional gear, since I wouldn't be using it all that long. This picture shows the gear I used for some record attempts at Lake Wales, Florida, in a days-long SOS camp (Skydivers Over Sixty). Yes, I was well over sixty, and that was ten years ago.

You can see it was windy (see my hair?), and I wasn't all that happy about going up to try for the record in that wind. We were just fine, though; nobody landed in the gator swamp, and I was careful to land well away from other skydivers (there were more than forty of us on each jump). I sold that black jumpsuit long ago, but I kept the rest of my skydiving gear. And I had two more jumpsuits that I loved very much, both purple.

Linny, Christy, me, Tyson, Dave

Here is a more recent picture, from August 2014, and the people I liked to play in the sky with at Skydive Snohomish. I sold my gear to a sweet young thing the following June, and I haven't made a jump since. But with the memories of more than 4,000 of them, I guess it's not unusual for me to dream about some of those wonderful times.

Me in front, SG behind

This is one of my favorite pictures of the two of us under canopy together, after having made a skydive together and getting ready to land at the Skydive Snohomish airport. This is the last place I skydived during my long career as a skydiver. It will always be part of me.

I was determined today not to write about the weather or my injuries, and last night's dream carried me toward the nostalgia of years past. They are good recollections. And it's true that bringing back these memories has raised my spirits and put a smile on my face.
:-)

Rainbows and fogbows

Taken by Melvin Nicholson on a Scottish Moor

I found this amazing picture of a "fog bow" while looking for something in particular to tell a story of a skydive I made many years ago. I got it from this article in the Daily Mail. It also describes how a fog bow is formed.

A fog bow is a colourless rainbow made up of tiny water droplets that cause fog. Due to the small size of the water droplets it has very weak colours, with a red outer edge and bluish inner edge.

I was looking to see if anybody had ever captured a picture of a phenomenon that I saw on a skydive long ago. Skydivers are not supposed to intentionally jump through clouds, but sometimes it happens and there's not much you can do about it, once you're out of the airplane and in freefall. The sun was directly behind me, with a solid-looking cloud underneath me. As I got closer, I saw my shadow, and around the shadow of my body was a rainbow. I was close enough to see each separate finger before I closed my eyes tight, since it looked like I was approaching something solid! But poof, all I felt was the coolness of the cloud.

When I opened my eyes, I saw the cloud dissipating and the ground coming into focus. I quickly looked at my altimeter to make sure I still had time before I needed to deploy my parachute. Yes, I was fine, but I had seen something I will never forget: my shadow on a cloud, with a perfect halo all around it.
:-)

Changing my photograph albums

Me in a Florida wind tunnel in 2003

Well, will you look at that! It's me flying in the Orlando wind tunnel way back when. And how did I find this picture? It found me, actually. I decided a couple of days ago to take my pictures off my individual devices and put them all in the cloud. This came about for a couple of reasons.

First, I had some of my pictures on my laptop, some on my phone, and sadly, none of them on my iPad. I made the mistake of getting the entry-level memory option last year on my iPad and in nothing flat, I ran out of space on it. I reluctantly started using it only for emails and reading blogs and websites. Oh yeah, and watching Netflix and Amazon Prime streaming videos (which it is really great at).

I went to the local Apple store and looked at the new iPad Pro, thinking that maybe I'd just upgrade my iPad to the latest and greatest, so I ordered one. The salesperson, however, once he found out the dilemma with my current iPad, suggested that I consider using the iCloud Photo Library, with the other major benefit being that I have ALL my pictures available to me on all my devices. It costs $1/month for 50 gigabytes of iCloud storage. I started the changeover, and before I knew it, I had over 5,000 pictures, all right there to peruse. Some of them were in albums I'd forgotten about.

Just before I started this post, I scanned over my treasures, and several pictures from the ancient past surfaced, like the one you see at the top. Until yesterday, I didn't even know where to look for that picture. Not to mention that there are cherished pictures of family and friends who have died. And pictures of me that reminded me of the fact that my hair has not always been white.

Another benefit is that if I edit or delete a picture from one device, the changes take place all the way across because they are stored in the cloud. I experimented and sure enough, it works! While I was looking quickly at my pictures, I was also able to delete almost a hundred, because I tend to take more than one picture of the same thing and keep them both. Wow!

Smart Guy and me getting married in freefall

I smiled when I saw this one, too. We got married in freefall on May 5, 1994, and our Best Man was the videographer. When we got our marriage license in Colorado, we said we would be married when we passed through 5,500 feet over Loveland, Colorado, and nobody batted an eye! Yes, skydiving has been a big part of my life, but I am suddenly reminded that there is a wind tunnel in Tukwila and I can always get my knees in the breeze if I want to, no matter how old I get.
:-)

Safety Day 2015

Me and Christy this morning at Safety Day

I got up this morning with Smart Guy, and the two of us set out for the 75-mile-long journey down to Skydive Snohomish in the rain, so we could attend Safety Day. While we were there, before the seminars began, I asked Christy for a picture. I do think this will be my last Safety Day and my last season of skydiving. No, I mean it this time. She and I made a skydive a couple of weekends ago, and it was simply lovely. I'm looking forward to at least a few more weekends this summer where we get to play in the air.

The large crowd, along with the potluck breakfast treats

Skydive Snohomish hosts this well-attended event, which gets us all ready for the upcoming season after the winter layoff. The weather has been so fine that many people have already made some skydives this season (including me), but the five seminars cover aircraft safety, the skydive, equipment, canopy flight, and emergencies. The Drop Zone provides pizza for lunch and hosts a large dinner afterwards as well. I've never attended the dinner, since we have such a long drive home.

Fiddling with aperture settings

This morning I was reading on one of my favorite blogs, The Furry Gnome, about aperture settings and how to use them. I tried a dozen different ones as I gazed out the front window of the car at the windshield wipers as they swept back and forth in the rain. Of course, I wasn't driving, Smart Guy was, so I had plenty of time to ponder what happens when I changed the aperture setting. I noticed depth of field and the amount of light all change considerably. This is going to be fun! And finally, I'll leave you with one of the humorous cartoons that was shared today by Dieter, one of our pilots.

I laughed at this one

:-)

A fabulous series and a fine walk

The view from the ferry terminal this morning

Today is supposed to be sunny, eventually, but this is how it looked as we ladies started out our five-mile walk from the ferry terminal this morning. I love the changing color of the trees and thought about cropping out the cars and trucks, but I didn't after fiddling with it a bit. It's the trees I wanted to show you, along with the fog. There is still fog outside, even though it's four hours later. It will be gone eventually, but who knows how long before it lifts? Nevertheless, we had a really nice dry walk at a brisk pace.

I am more than halfway through the Ken Burns series on The Roosevelts. I have already learned so much! I didn't know that FDR (Franklin Roosevelt) was 39 when he contracted polio, how it affected his life and how he dealt with it. Last night I watched the fourth in the series of seven, and it was so informative that I watched it again, with Smart Guy joining me. I have three more episodes to go, and I'm looking forward to them very much. I know that at least one of them will teach me a great deal about the life of Eleanor Roosevelt, who redefined what it meant to be the First Lady. I was also reminded that it was only a little more than a century ago (1920) that the 19th Amendment to the Constitution finally gave women the right to vote. That simply boggles my mind.

Anyway, if you get a chance to see that series, don't miss it. Ken Burns amazes me at the way he takes archival footage and brings it to life. And I'm also hoping that the fog will lift tomorrow early enough to let me get my knees in the breeze at Skydive Snohomish. My last season of skydiving is fast coming to a close.
:-)

Guess when we will get rain

Beautiful sunflower

I was in line at the grocery store when the woman in front of me was buying a bouquet of these beauties. I grabbed my phone and took this shot. It's so nice to have a camera, a fairly good one, with me everywhere I go. And they apparently continue to improve with each iteration. This Thanksgiving I will have had my phone for two years and can trade it in for a new one. You know I will, but I won't be getting the iPhone6+, that's for sure. Too big, if you ask me. You know it's large when they start calling it a phablet (phone + tablet).

And yes, the rain will be returning to our neck of the woods on Thursday. It's been sunny and more than ten degrees warmer than our normal temperatures, and wouldn't you know it? All that will leave late tomorrow (Wednesday) and stay around for a couple of days. Then back to more of the same sunny skies we've had now for what seems like ages!

It was so nice that I went to the Drop Zone on Sunday and made three skydives with my friends. It was so pleasant that Goldilocks would have approved: it was not too hot, not too cold, just right! Then yesterday it was 82 degrees F (28 C) without a cloud in the sky, a little on the warm side for me. Today, however, it's supposed to be much cooler and high clouds have already begun to move in. I don't mind, really; my raincoat has been neglected for way too long. You know where I'll be on Thursday, come rain or come shine!
:-)

Three more fun skydives

Linny (with red circle), Christy, me, Tyson, Dave

That little lady with the red circle around her head has been missing in most of my skydives this summer. Last September she had a hard opening and injured her neck pretty severely (whiplash), and then in June she came out to make a couple of jumps, considering herself to be almost back to normal. She made two skydives, which didn't turn out so well, as she ended up with a busted lip and pain in the front of her chest. She then went to the doctor to find that something was sprained in there, and she's still trying to work out the problems.

This is one reason why I'm ready to hang up my gear at the end of the season: the older we get, the more likely it is that we can get injured. Christy and Tyson are both much younger than Linny and me (I'm five years older than she is), and Dave is somewhere in the middle. He's still working, so I suspect he's in his late fifties, but I haven't asked him for some reason. His wife Cindy stayed home on Sunday, so the five of us went up and made a skydive, came down and packed up and made one more! Christy, Dave and I had already made a three-way skydive before Linny arrived, and Tyson is actually the Drop Zone Owner, so he's always there. He made time to join us because of Linny.

Although it was a really good day in some ways, it was hard to see how fragile Linny is right now. Before the whiplash injury, she would make up to eight skydives on Saturday and then come out the next day and make eight more! I have always been content to make no more than four in one day, and that's with me paying someone to pack my parachute in between jumps. Last year I did make four jumps in one day and packed up each one myself, but I'm willing to be much more laid back now, in my final skydiving season. I intend to enjoy myself and not push too hard.

That said, as I'm approaching the end of the season, with only two more months to go, I am beginning to wonder if I am being premature in stopping now. I had so much fun on Sunday!
:-)

We had a great time

Vlad and Terry in the airplane

On Sunday, the skydive that Terry had scheduled at Skydive Snohomish was finally accomplished! Last Sunday, when she first scheduled, was canceled due to weather, but the skies this past weekend were blue both days! Since Terry works five days a week, it had to be on the weekend, and I decided to just make the one jump and drive down with her. We headed off for Snohomish an hour earlier than we had to, because we were both a little on the anxious side. Me more than her, it seemed.

Terry signing her life away

She breezed through the long waiver she had to sign and watched the 30-minute video. Then the entire class of twenty lay down on the floor to practice the arch position while an instructor watched. We were in the first airplane out of three scheduled for the class. While she did all that, I got my gear ready, so I could jump out with her under my own parachute.

Vlad dressing Terry with the jumpsuit and harness

And off we went in the airplane. There were five people getting out in front of us, so Terry watched them as they seemed to just disappear when they leapt out of the plane. (I remember how scary that was for me the first time.) And then she was moved to the door by Vlad, her instructor, and THEN she got scared. But by that time, there was nothing to do but just jump. They went, and I left a fraction of a second before them, having climbed outside the plane.

Vlad took this picture with a camera on his left wrist

That is me flying in to take a grip on Terry's hand. She was so overwhelmed by the experience (naturally) that I took Vlad's hand instead and moved it over to Terry's. As you can see from the expression on her face, she was otherwise occupied looking at the ground. We are in freefall, and that is the drogue chute's line above the tandem parachute. It slows down the two of them to normal freefall speed. Tandems also need to open a couple thousand feet higher than individual skydivers, so they got under a parachute while I continued to fall for a few seconds longer. That meant I would land before them and get a picture of their landing.

Here they come!

I was able to grab my camera out of my jumpsuit and get this picture of them as they came in to land. They are only a few seconds from landing, and that was a piece of cake, with Vlad as the instructor. (He only has around 9,000 tandem skydives under his belt.)

Touchdown!

Terry simply sat down when she landed. You can see that Vlad actually stood up as they came in. You can also see the drogue chute and the parachute are still inflated. I was just a hair behind on capturing the actual landing. After all this, we walked back to the staging area and Terry was given a certificate of accomplishment, as well as taking off the harness and jumpsuit. I had to get my own parachute packed up before we could leave for home, but we were done with the "bucket list" experience that Terry wanted to rack up. She did great, but she said she doesn't think she would do it again. The freefall part was way more overwhelming than she expected. I know all about that feeling; it was what made me go again and again.

With that behind us, we drove north for the 75-mile trip back home, and me in the car with a fellow skydiver! We really had fun, and I hope maybe sometime this year I'll get a chance to do this with another friend who turns from a whuffo (someone who has never jumped) to a skydiver!
:-)

A fine holiday weekend

Carol sky gazing

Actually, I took this picture on Wednesday, but I think it can still be added to a post about our long holiday weekend. I was so mesmerized by these clouds that I begged Carol to stand there to give the picture a bit of perspective. When she saw this picture, she said it makes our apartment complex to look much more posh that it really is. I had to agree.

My plate at the potluck

Yesterday, the actual Independence Day holiday, I went to a potluck with the Fairhaven walking group at our leader Cindy's house. She has done this Fourth of July potluck for a few years now, and I joined them for the first time last year. It was so nice that I didn't want to miss another one. Notice all the good food on the plate. I was enchanted by the green stuff that looks a little like broccoli, but not quite. Here's a closeup:

Maria's romanesco

It turns out to be something called romanesco, a cross between broccoli and cauliflower, which, according to that Wikipedia link, has been around for centuries. I simply loved it, and Maria told me she grows it in her garden. She picked it fresh that morning, steamed it lightly and brought it to the potluck. From that link:

Romanesco has a striking appearance because its form is a natural approximation of a fractal. When compared to a traditional cauliflower, as a vegetable its texture is far more crunchy, and its flavor is not as assertive, being delicate and nutty.

This morning, after our regular Saturday walk, I headed to the Farmers' Market to see if I could pick some up. I found that it's not available there until the fall harvest, as my grower told me it's best then, more flavorful and abundant. I might have to go to Joe's Gardens and see if I can pick up some starts for my own fall harvest. If it's more delightful than what I ate yesterday, I can't wait!

In a few minutes I'm leaving to go to the movies with my friend Judy. We're going to see Ida at our independent theater. It's gotten great reviews. I've learned not to trust reviews all that much, but many people have said this is one of the best of the year, not to be missed. Then tomorrow, if the weather cooperates, I'll be heading to the Drop Zone in Snohomish for you know what!
:-)

Saturday rolls around again

Edible borage flower

I got up this morning and looked at the calendar, and I simply could not wrap my head around the fact that it's already almost the first day of summer (3:51am PDT, two weeks from today). But then when I go out and look at the garden, it's obvious that we are well into the time when we can begin to harvest our first fruits and veggies. I've already gathered salad stuff three times now, with yesterday the first time I picked any arugula, which is fantastically strong, at least compared to the stuff at the supermarket.

I'm going to be inundated with borage, which is good to eat. I steamed some up and found it to be slimy like okra, and I ate too much of it, I think. Now I almost have an aversion to eating more. The flowers, however, are just fine and will make a nice addition to any salad.

I've finally managed to see some results of my lowered calorie consumption. I see why it's important to weigh myself every day, since the fluctuation from day to day can be as much as two pounds. But the good part is that every day I see the scale trending in a downward direction. I've seen a fairly consistent 3-pound loss, but I've got a ways to go before getting to my ideal weight. And then the hard part comes anyway, which is maintaining it.

This morning I would normally be joining the walking group right now, but my skydiving friends and I will be getting together in Snohomish to have some fun in the air, hopefully. Right now there are low clouds and we're thinking it will be clear by noon. That means I could have gone on the walk, since it's usually from 8:00 to 9:30 or so and then a more-than-an-hour drive south, but I decided against it. I'm in a different mode right now.

Sugar snap peas already!

I went out this morning to check my garden plot and saw to my amazement that I've already got some sugar snap peas that I could pick and eat! But there are only those two, and there will be many more very soon, so I'll wait. I'm now finding a half dozen ripe strawberries every day, but soon there will be lots of them all ripe at once. It's a great year for strawberries.

Broccoli and red cabbage

My broccoli is also doing great, along with the red cabbage. I was disappointed to learn there's not much you can do with those great big cabbage leaves. Every day I peer down into the middle of the cabbages, wondering when they will begin to tighten up and start to make a head. Not yet. You'll know when that happens.

Enough! I'm going to gather my stuff together and start that long drive. After I stop for my latte, that is. Have a great weekend!
:-)

A quick Tuesday post

Pink snow?

All around Bellingham there are places where you see this these days: is it pink snow? No, it's petals falling from the flowering trees, I think flowering plum (I could be wrong) that don't actually have any fruit. I see these sights everywhere right now. Not only is Bellingham in the midst of exploding blossoms, but my allergies are also in full song at the moment. I'm glad I have stuff to take to allow me to keep from being required to hole up inside an air-conditioned building. My favorites are Claritin and Flonase (generic brands, of course).

I learned that two dear friends of Eike Hohenadl (referring to my last post) drove from southern California to Arizona to pick up his gear and car, so that his wife of many years would not have to. I also learned that he was observed to be completely unresponsive under canopy, so he probably had a wonderful skydive where he performed impeccably, and for whatever reason lost consciousness as soon as he opened his parachute. The landing was not the reason for his death, so I'm comforted, in a way, knowing that Eike probably never knew what happened.

Now, that said, I want to state right here that, even though it might have been right for him, that's not how I want to leave this life. We were of a similar age, and I realize anew that I've made the right decision for this to be my final season in the skydiving arena. Never does one door close but that another opens. Who knows what is next for me? I'm looking forward to finding out!
:-)

Farewell to a good man

Eike Hohennadl is in the center

Yesterday I received an email, sent to all of us who were recently in Lake Elsinore for the Skydivers Over Sixty event, that a very familiar face to all of us who knew him, Eike, died skydiving at Eloy in Arizona on Friday. He was attending an invitation-only 88-way event, because he was a very good skydiver, and he also happened to be 72.

Nobody knows for sure what happened, but when his parachute opened in a spin, he was unresponsive under canopy, slumped in the harness, and never did anything to stop it. It continued until he hit the ground, killing him. That is, if he was not already dead, or at least unconscious, from who knows what. Maybe a heart attack, maybe not.

I jumped with him for years, whenever I attended one of those events where we would both be included because of our advanced years. I was never in the same category as far as skydiving skill went. He was a local skydiver in the Lake Elsinore area, and he traveled often to events and was always sought after. It is a great loss to the jump community.

Plus he was just an all-around good guy. It happened yesterday, and every time I woke in the night, I would think of him and feel very sad that he is gone. There are many things I didn't know about him until I read about him in a local Lake Elsinore article, written by Sarah Burge.

Hohenadl had thousands of jumps under his belt and held numerous U.S. Parachute Association licenses and ratings, including safety and training adviser. Hohenadl had escaped from East Germany as a boy and eventually made his way to the United States. He had described that experience as “way more nerve-wracking than jumping from a plane.” Hohenadl fought in the Vietnam War, stationed aboard a 173-foot minesweeper that patrolled the Mekong Delta and the Gulf of Tonkin. In the 90s, he served as manager of a major disposal project at the Fallbrook Naval Weapons Facility involving Vietnam-era napalm. He retired from the U.S. Navy with the rank of captain after more than 30 years of service.

I was going to write about something else, but I just need to say goodbye to him, and wish him Godspeed. I also hope that his family and friends will find solace in the outpouring of love and respect that people all over the world are expressing for Eike. He will truly be missed.
:-(

Holder of a new world record

Before our first jump yesterday

There we are, all nine of us WSOS (Women Skydivers Over Sixty), getting ready for our first jump of the day yesterday. Our coach, Jeff Jones, concentrated on getting us relaxed and gave us a skydive that was well within our abilities. In the back row is, left to right, me, Ronda from Michigan, Hollis (I'm not sure where she's from), Louise from Arizona, Chris (a local), and Alicia from Long Beach. In the front row, kneeling, are Monique (Canada), Sandra (another local), and Caroline from the UK.

To make a record, everyone must be in the pre-designated formation in her own slot, with the proper grip, and we must declare ahead of time whether it will be a one- or two-point skydive. We decided to go with the easier of the two, since we had not jumped together before, and we made the single point with time to spare. It was a wonderful feeling to be under canopy, realizing that we had just set a record. When we returned to the ground, all the husbands and other interested men were there to congratulate us, and we then watched the video and debriefed the skydive. We were so high from the experience that I cannot tell you how happy I felt.

Then we decided to go up and do the same thing again, but add a second point, which means that at least half of the people on the skydive must let go and re-grip again, in a different formation. Well, we had to try twice to get that accomplished,  but we did, and now I am the holder of several different world, country, and state records for Women Skydivers Over Sixty! I snagged a picture off Terry's Facebook page (our vidographer), which is why you see the little marks, but I paid him for some good resolution pictures, which of course I will frame and keep forever.

WSOS World Record 7 April 2014 (by Terry Weatherford)

That's me in the 3:00 position, in purple. My heart is full today, as we all said our goodbyes after a wonderful Skills Camp and Women's Record Day. I will not be returning to Skydive Elsinore, and we all got a bit emotional, but I am so incredibly happy that I decided to come here and make a wonderful beginning to my last season as an active skydiver.

Canopies landing at sunset

I took this picture from the packing area as the sun went down at Skydive Elsinore yesterday. It was a wonderful time, I'm plenty tired and sore, but I couldn't have asked for a better last day at this wonderful Drop Zone, with my friends, new and old.
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Skills camp begins today

Gary, me, John

Well, I got my knees in the breeze with these two gentlemen yesterday, one I knew from last year (John), and a new friend, Gary from Italy. We went up in Skydive Elsinore's Twin Otter and played in the sky together, although I realized that it would have been much easier for me on this jump if I had had some weights to allow me to fall faster. But it was still a good jump and we had fun.

I found a packer and got ready to make another skydive, but it was almost noon so I skipped the second jump being organized with the SOS (Skydivers Over Sixty) crowd so that John and I could get some lunch (he was hungry too, while Gary was just hungry for another jump). When we returned, the jumpers were just packing up after having made an 11-way that they enjoyed very much, so I agreed to make another skydive with the group.

However, it had grown so large (16 of us, all men, and some very much larger than me) that I decided not to go. They went and had a so-so skydive, with some problems that continue to happen when skydives get bigger and people don't know each other very well. I was glad to sit it out, because today the Skills Camp begins, and I will make four skydives with organizers who will be working with our skill levels in small groups, appropriate to each person's needs.

After the day's skydiving, we returned to the hotel and John, who bought an incredible amount of beer and wine yesterday, had put some of the beer on ice. We gathered in the breakfast room to enjoy it, about ten of us, all guys except for me, from all over the world. As music was mentioned, one fellow, Joe, left the room and returned in a few minutes with... music!

Joe playing the bagpipes

If you can call it that; I have a hard time hearing the nuances of bagpipes. He played us two songs before putting his precious instrument on a nearby table and rejoining us with cheese and crackers. He also brought in two large sandwiches which he cut into pieces and shared. After awhile, some were interested in having a real dinner, so we made our goodbyes and went our separate ways for the evening.

These are great people, and I am glad to be here, looking forward to learning a lot with my friends. I've already told several old skydiving friends that this will be my last visit to Skydive Elsinore, as this, my twenty-fourth year of skydiving, will be my final season of playing in the sky. Most understood and some even felt honored that I chose to spend this time with them, here.

I'm a little superstitious about saying "last" and "final" in relation to skydiving, just as I'm beginning two days of making four jumps a day, and then there's the women's record attempt on Monday, which will probably be another four. I get tired just thinking about it, but really, I have every expectation that it will be an incredibly wonderful experience with some of the best people in the world, and everybody will be safe.

Although I will return home on Wednesday, most of the group will be staying for the rest of the week to attempt to make the largest formation of SOS skydivers ever. The record right now stands at 60, set in 2012, since last year they failed to make a new record. The organizers will have video of many of the skydives, so that they can pick and choose those who are most likely to be able to perform well. The rest will be "on the bench" and will make skydives together as well. I know from experience that these record attempts are stressful times for everybody, and I'm glad I'll be going home and skipping all the stress. It will be hard enough to make the women's record attempt, but there will only be 11 of us, not 80.

So that's it from my part of the world, sitting here in the dark with my laptop. I'll need to be at the Drop Zone by 8:00am, and there's breakfast here at the hotel. Time for a shower to begin my day. I'll be making another post on my other blog tomorrow morning. It's going to be a great day in southern California! Hope you will all have a wonderful day, too. Signing off from the world of palm trees and blue skies.
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First class traveling is the way to go

My iPad, coffee, snack, and travel pillow

Since I was given a $300 credit from Alaska Air for last year's tribulations getting down to Elsinore, I decided to try traveling first class for a change. Well, I could really get used to this, if more travel were in my future. I rode the Bellingham Airporter to SeaTac in order to catch a 7:20am flight direct to Elsinore, and I went first class; I will do the same coming home. Since I got to the airport two hours before my flight, I saw the Alaska Board Room and wondered if I could go in there with my first-class ticket. Yes! I had an espresso, a coffee, used their internet, and had a snack as well, free of charge.

Early morning flight, first rays of the sun

I was also able to board right way, as I was in the front of the plane, with a big cushy leather seat and lots of leg room. My, my! And they even fed me a nice breakfast. Do you know how long it's been since I got a "free" meal on the plane? I can't remember when.

Mt. Rainier from the airplane window

As we traveled south, beautiful Mt. Rainier showed its face. In just a few minutes after I snapped this, though, it was obscured by the clouds as we climbed into the gloom. And as we were traveling south, the sunlight became quite brilliant once we got above the clouds, and my seat-mate wanted to use his laptop. I was happy to oblige, since there was really nothing much to see. (I did keep taking a peek now and then.)

Southern California mountains and fog

Once we began our descent, I took a look out the window and was really surprised to see the fog in the valleys, with blue skies above. It was so lovely, but when we landed and I stepped off the plane, I was surprised that it was quite chilly, not even 50 deg F! But that changed quickly. Once I went through the rental car process and received an almost-new 4-door Nissan, it was already beginning to get warm. For someone who rarely sees full sun and 70 degrees, it was beginning to feel a lot like southern California. I drove south for an hour to get to my hotel.

My pretty room, with a sitting area and a view

I was really pleased to see the room I will inhabit for the next six days, with a fridge, microwave, sitting area, and a bed that looks out towards Skydive Elsinore!

Skydive Elsinore is at the base of the mountain in the distance

Sitting propped up on all those pillows, this is the view I see from that window. Right now, in the late afternoon, sunshine is spilling into the room, making me happy to be here, and looking forward to tomorrow. I went out to the Drop Zone to get my gear registered, and to sign all the waivers that are required when you want to hurl yourself out of airplanes. And I'll start doing that tomorrow. Tonight, I'll recover from all the travel and psychologically prepare for the adventure!
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