Skydiving Weekend
I had an exciting weekend. I went skydiving!! It was a real blast. Ken Heintz organized the trip, and four of us jumped. I agonized over the decision on Saturday, figuring out whether I thought I could do it or not. In the end, I did it and enjoyed it tremendously. I'm glad I did it, because it was a rare experience and a special moment in time. One of those moments that will be unrivaled, because you'll never feel that way or have that moment again. It's a one-of-a-kind situation. You would think it would be scary, but it is actually calming and satisfying rather than a terrified, nailbiting experience.
We drove up to Greeneville (Tennessee) in the early evening. You show up at the airfield and walk into the hangar, where all the parachutes are laid out and being put into the backpacks. It's somewhat like preparation for a military operation and partly like a setup for an entertainment event. My reference point was scenes from movies like Top Gun and Independence Day, and it was exciting to actually be the person who was involved in the flight.
Once there, you get forms whereby you sign your life away. You pay your money ($160 for this) and they get you set up with a dive instructor who will be your tandem partner on the jump. You go in and watch a short video that talks about the jump and what to do and shows pictures of exiting the plane, being in freefall, descending with the parachute open, and landing. There are a handful of things to keep in mind, mostly just positions to make with your body. That's all there is to training for the tandem jump.
The weather was cloudy and rainy, and it appeared we might not be able to get into the air. As we were in the lounge waiting, a guy walked in and said that it looked like we wouldn't be able to go that evening and asked if we would be able to come back tomorrow. We weren't real thrilled with that idea. So we waited. Eventually a guy came back in and said, "We're ready."
The four guys jumping were Ken, myself, Jason Bruer, and Charles Pusser. Wendy Mitchell was going to ride in the plane but not jump. Your instructor comes and gets you and starts taking you through the preparations. A harness is put on you, very similar to one used for rope courses. He goes over the instructions again. Once you see the video and meet the people, you realize that it's going to be great, not scary. And listening to the instructor just adds to the calmness. He lets you know that once you are hooked to him, that you're not going anywhere. Even if you mess up, he will make the necessary adjustments. The one thing he says is, "Don't grab my hands. If you do that, I can't pull the rip cord, and we're dead." My instructor was cool; I've got to give him the props. His name was Dave. He had taken his wife on a tandem jump earlier that day. I was thinking, "Man, this is awesome." All this time, I had been in this fearful state about what it would be, and it was like being set free once you figured out what it really was. There are about 20,000 skydivers worldwide. I would love to see friends get involved with this and experience it for themselves.
After your gear is on, you head back out to the hangar to await the plane. Once the plane pulls by, it is on. You quickly get in and in a minute or two you are taking off. It was a special weekend in that they had a plane in town that was capable of much more rapid climb than most of its type. It was a Cessna with 800 horsepower per engine that could climb to 13,500 feet in 7 minutes. We were like jet fighters out there on the airstrip, excited about our mission. When the plane rolled by, we sprinted over and jumped on. The backwash from the propellers let you know how powerful the plane really was. The plane had all the seats removed except one where Wendy sat. My position on the plane was right by the exit door. We all sat in there in two rows. The door closes, and the plane takes off. I was going to be the first tandem to go after a couple of individual jumpers went. As we were going up, my instructor told me to take off the seatbelt. At this point, we were not fastened. I felt a little vulnerable at that point because the "door" is just a plastic casing that is vibrating as the plane climbs: not much security. Later he told me to get on my knees, and he began to hook me into himself. We were about 10,000+ feet at this point. As you get to the jump height, the pilot does a downward plunge. There is a negative G effect that is created, and all the jumpers rise to their feet as if by magic. You walk with your instructor to the door beind the other jumpers. Once you see them leave the plane, they are already a hundred feet down. Then it's time. You walk to the edge, and you're in the instructor's control then. He tells you to get ready, and then he throws you both out the door.
The transition from door to air is remarkably smooth. You are told to lean your head back upon exiting, to hold onto your harness right below your shoulders, and you arch your body as soon as you can. Feet are bent back under your butt. There's a brief second upon leaving where you realize that you are leaving a plane at 13,000 feet. The things you are supposed to do helps out with the nerves, because you are concentrated first on getting the position right. The overwhelming memory of that freefall time is the air rushing by your face. It's so powerful. He can't talk to you, so the instructor touches you on the shoulder to indicate you are to get in the freefall position: arms out like in a pushup position with hands pointed down. And you're flying to the ground! It was real cloudy, so about halfway through the freefall, we were able to go right straight through a grey cloud. It was wild. One minute you are seeing the clouds at a distance, with the breaks allowing you to see the ground. Then you are right on the cloud. You pass through and your sight is obscured and then all of a sudden you are shooting out the bottom and headed for the earth. That's when I felt that it was the coolest thing. I had just pierced through a cloud! Pretty soon thereafter, the chute is pulled and you start the leg first drop to earth. As soon as that's done, there is absolute quiet, puncuated every so often by the wind against the parachute.
You have the toggles, and the instructor tells you to practice your left and right turns and then you get to do a spiral by pulling hard right and that brings you almost face to the ground, and you are roaring around in a tight arc at speed. The scenery there is amazing, with all the spring green and the mountains on nearly all sides. I was doing some whooping and hollering during that, it was really exciting. You see the other divers all around you. Your guy is constantly talking to you, getting you to practice the landing and making all the adjustments necessary. It's a real close partnership and an amazing feeling just to trust your life to this guy's hands. The 5,000 feet drop under canopy gives you a lot of cool time to look around and be amazed. It's amazing to think about what has happened, that the parachute has worked and you are being held up. Meanwhile, earth is getting closer and closer. At this time, the instructor is guiding the two of you down, readying you for the landing. It's coming and coming and then you pick up your feet and slide in for the landing. He unties you from himself and you go celebrate with your buddies.
We got a certificate documenting our achievement, and the instructor gives you high-fives to let you know that you did well. My guy Dave was awesome, and he told me that I did excellent. We also picked up an East Tennessee Skydiving shirt to wear around and show others. Overall, you are part of a new group that you were not before and you have shared an awesome experience with buddies that is full of camaraderie. It's also a real experience with nature as well, and you realize that nature allows for this kind of thing. You have a new appreciation for it and a gratitude for being able to see it from a different vantage point.
Everybody asks, "Are you going to do it again?!" I am enjoying getting to tell everyone what it was like and hope to be able to introduce someone to this endeavor by jumping along with them. That would be great. I don't know if I got the "bug" and just have to do it again, but I feel that it was a real awesome addition to my life that I am glad for. I'd like to do it again so I can really remember what skydiving is.
On Friday, I took the afternoon off and grabbed The Silmarillion, a book by J.R.R. Tolkien, writer of Lord of the Rings. It's really an amazing work, and it expands on the Middle Earth world that is presented in LOTR. Besides being just a really fun, satisfying read, it also sheds light on elves and dwarves and wizards and hobbits and men. One of the cool things I learned was about Balrogs of Morgoth. I had always read "balrog" in the scene in Fellowship where Gandalf is dragged down into the abyss. In the movie, Legolas refers twice to Gandalf being taken by a "Balrog of Morgoth." It seemed a little odd. In the Silmarillion, you learn that Morgoth is the Elf-given name for Melkor. Melkor is the original bad guy in the Tolkien universe.
The way that all "lower life" started was that Illuvatar (God) gathers his angels (the Valar - a name you may also recognize from LOTR, as when Galadriel speaks of the grace of the Valar to be diminished in Arwen) and reveals His thought to them. The thought is along a theme, and each of the characters are to create music based on that theme. Melkor introduces notes that are opposed to the theme. They all learn that their music is actually creating a world. For the time, it is just a vision, but Illuvatar has chosen to work through their music to form a world in substance, and Melkor's music will mar the world. Several of the angels then enter the world, as does Melkor, who then opposes all their beautiful, creative work with his undoing work.
You learn later that Melkor recruits servants. One of the servants Melkor seduces is the servant of Aule, who is the great craftsman and maker of things. The servant's name is Sauron. And Melkor gives deceptive gifts to helper servants and they become Balrogs. Thus, the term "Balrogs of Morgoth."
So the filmmakers were able to touch upon this previous world in their films. You learn a lot more in that regard in The Silmarillion and understand Tolkien's overarching purpose.
As I said, it is a fantastic read. It is amazing to get the same quality story and writing as in LOTR, and it's all fresh and new rather than a story you know well!
My favorite learning was about the dwarves, and you begin to understand why it is such a big deal to Tolkien that Gimli the dwarf and Legolas the elf become friends. I owe the focus on this to Rachel; she expressed dissatisfaction with how in ROTK (the last film) the two of them are reduced to bit stunt players. With this new understanding, I was thinking to myself, "Wow, that's right. This is vitally important to the author." Let me explain.
Dwarves were created by Aule, who as I said before was one of the Valar who had gifts of craftmanship and making. Whereas elves are the Firstborn created by Illuvatar and thus fair and beautiful, dwarves are not created by Illuvatar. Essentially, Aule makes dwarves through his own thought and does not consult anyone else. Manwe, the king of the Valar, becomes aware of this, and Aule thinks he will have to destroy his creation. However, Manwe expresses Illuvatar's intent by letting them be alive. However, Illuvatar will not let dwarves have the same honored place as his chosen Elves, which would go against his intended purpose for the world. At this point, the firstborn have not yet come forth! So the dwarves are to remain underground until the firstborn have arisen. To allow them to endure, Aule makes the dwarves hard and tough, qualities that endure.
At the same time, Aule's wife Yavanna (who is heavily made up and a millionaire; oh I am sorry wrong Yvanna) lets her husband know that since he didn't bring her in on the thought, that his creation, dwarves, will be at odds with her realm, which is trees and other things that grow. Thus you see Gimli at odds with the forest in The Two Towers. The dwarves also have an animosity with elves and have very different purposes and aims. Their goals are completely different. Elves are fairest and wise, but they are no saints and they have their own particular beefs with the dwarves. So, the friendship between Legolas and Gimli is likely a great culmination in the author's thoughts. These two are given the final place in the history of the Fellowship in the appendices, as they ride off much like Frodo and Gandalf do at the end of The Return of the King. They are the last of the Fellowship to leave Middle Earth, either through death or by ship via the Grey Havens. This would be significant that Gimli could ride the ship, since the eternal place of elves and dwarves are not the same. Thus, Tolkien puts his own glad ending on the Fellowship through this merger of the two races.
We drove up to Greeneville (Tennessee) in the early evening. You show up at the airfield and walk into the hangar, where all the parachutes are laid out and being put into the backpacks. It's somewhat like preparation for a military operation and partly like a setup for an entertainment event. My reference point was scenes from movies like Top Gun and Independence Day, and it was exciting to actually be the person who was involved in the flight.
Once there, you get forms whereby you sign your life away. You pay your money ($160 for this) and they get you set up with a dive instructor who will be your tandem partner on the jump. You go in and watch a short video that talks about the jump and what to do and shows pictures of exiting the plane, being in freefall, descending with the parachute open, and landing. There are a handful of things to keep in mind, mostly just positions to make with your body. That's all there is to training for the tandem jump.
The weather was cloudy and rainy, and it appeared we might not be able to get into the air. As we were in the lounge waiting, a guy walked in and said that it looked like we wouldn't be able to go that evening and asked if we would be able to come back tomorrow. We weren't real thrilled with that idea. So we waited. Eventually a guy came back in and said, "We're ready."
The four guys jumping were Ken, myself, Jason Bruer, and Charles Pusser. Wendy Mitchell was going to ride in the plane but not jump. Your instructor comes and gets you and starts taking you through the preparations. A harness is put on you, very similar to one used for rope courses. He goes over the instructions again. Once you see the video and meet the people, you realize that it's going to be great, not scary. And listening to the instructor just adds to the calmness. He lets you know that once you are hooked to him, that you're not going anywhere. Even if you mess up, he will make the necessary adjustments. The one thing he says is, "Don't grab my hands. If you do that, I can't pull the rip cord, and we're dead." My instructor was cool; I've got to give him the props. His name was Dave. He had taken his wife on a tandem jump earlier that day. I was thinking, "Man, this is awesome." All this time, I had been in this fearful state about what it would be, and it was like being set free once you figured out what it really was. There are about 20,000 skydivers worldwide. I would love to see friends get involved with this and experience it for themselves.
After your gear is on, you head back out to the hangar to await the plane. Once the plane pulls by, it is on. You quickly get in and in a minute or two you are taking off. It was a special weekend in that they had a plane in town that was capable of much more rapid climb than most of its type. It was a Cessna with 800 horsepower per engine that could climb to 13,500 feet in 7 minutes. We were like jet fighters out there on the airstrip, excited about our mission. When the plane rolled by, we sprinted over and jumped on. The backwash from the propellers let you know how powerful the plane really was. The plane had all the seats removed except one where Wendy sat. My position on the plane was right by the exit door. We all sat in there in two rows. The door closes, and the plane takes off. I was going to be the first tandem to go after a couple of individual jumpers went. As we were going up, my instructor told me to take off the seatbelt. At this point, we were not fastened. I felt a little vulnerable at that point because the "door" is just a plastic casing that is vibrating as the plane climbs: not much security. Later he told me to get on my knees, and he began to hook me into himself. We were about 10,000+ feet at this point. As you get to the jump height, the pilot does a downward plunge. There is a negative G effect that is created, and all the jumpers rise to their feet as if by magic. You walk with your instructor to the door beind the other jumpers. Once you see them leave the plane, they are already a hundred feet down. Then it's time. You walk to the edge, and you're in the instructor's control then. He tells you to get ready, and then he throws you both out the door.
The transition from door to air is remarkably smooth. You are told to lean your head back upon exiting, to hold onto your harness right below your shoulders, and you arch your body as soon as you can. Feet are bent back under your butt. There's a brief second upon leaving where you realize that you are leaving a plane at 13,000 feet. The things you are supposed to do helps out with the nerves, because you are concentrated first on getting the position right. The overwhelming memory of that freefall time is the air rushing by your face. It's so powerful. He can't talk to you, so the instructor touches you on the shoulder to indicate you are to get in the freefall position: arms out like in a pushup position with hands pointed down. And you're flying to the ground! It was real cloudy, so about halfway through the freefall, we were able to go right straight through a grey cloud. It was wild. One minute you are seeing the clouds at a distance, with the breaks allowing you to see the ground. Then you are right on the cloud. You pass through and your sight is obscured and then all of a sudden you are shooting out the bottom and headed for the earth. That's when I felt that it was the coolest thing. I had just pierced through a cloud! Pretty soon thereafter, the chute is pulled and you start the leg first drop to earth. As soon as that's done, there is absolute quiet, puncuated every so often by the wind against the parachute.
You have the toggles, and the instructor tells you to practice your left and right turns and then you get to do a spiral by pulling hard right and that brings you almost face to the ground, and you are roaring around in a tight arc at speed. The scenery there is amazing, with all the spring green and the mountains on nearly all sides. I was doing some whooping and hollering during that, it was really exciting. You see the other divers all around you. Your guy is constantly talking to you, getting you to practice the landing and making all the adjustments necessary. It's a real close partnership and an amazing feeling just to trust your life to this guy's hands. The 5,000 feet drop under canopy gives you a lot of cool time to look around and be amazed. It's amazing to think about what has happened, that the parachute has worked and you are being held up. Meanwhile, earth is getting closer and closer. At this time, the instructor is guiding the two of you down, readying you for the landing. It's coming and coming and then you pick up your feet and slide in for the landing. He unties you from himself and you go celebrate with your buddies.
We got a certificate documenting our achievement, and the instructor gives you high-fives to let you know that you did well. My guy Dave was awesome, and he told me that I did excellent. We also picked up an East Tennessee Skydiving shirt to wear around and show others. Overall, you are part of a new group that you were not before and you have shared an awesome experience with buddies that is full of camaraderie. It's also a real experience with nature as well, and you realize that nature allows for this kind of thing. You have a new appreciation for it and a gratitude for being able to see it from a different vantage point.
Everybody asks, "Are you going to do it again?!" I am enjoying getting to tell everyone what it was like and hope to be able to introduce someone to this endeavor by jumping along with them. That would be great. I don't know if I got the "bug" and just have to do it again, but I feel that it was a real awesome addition to my life that I am glad for. I'd like to do it again so I can really remember what skydiving is.
On Friday, I took the afternoon off and grabbed The Silmarillion, a book by J.R.R. Tolkien, writer of Lord of the Rings. It's really an amazing work, and it expands on the Middle Earth world that is presented in LOTR. Besides being just a really fun, satisfying read, it also sheds light on elves and dwarves and wizards and hobbits and men. One of the cool things I learned was about Balrogs of Morgoth. I had always read "balrog" in the scene in Fellowship where Gandalf is dragged down into the abyss. In the movie, Legolas refers twice to Gandalf being taken by a "Balrog of Morgoth." It seemed a little odd. In the Silmarillion, you learn that Morgoth is the Elf-given name for Melkor. Melkor is the original bad guy in the Tolkien universe.
The way that all "lower life" started was that Illuvatar (God) gathers his angels (the Valar - a name you may also recognize from LOTR, as when Galadriel speaks of the grace of the Valar to be diminished in Arwen) and reveals His thought to them. The thought is along a theme, and each of the characters are to create music based on that theme. Melkor introduces notes that are opposed to the theme. They all learn that their music is actually creating a world. For the time, it is just a vision, but Illuvatar has chosen to work through their music to form a world in substance, and Melkor's music will mar the world. Several of the angels then enter the world, as does Melkor, who then opposes all their beautiful, creative work with his undoing work.
You learn later that Melkor recruits servants. One of the servants Melkor seduces is the servant of Aule, who is the great craftsman and maker of things. The servant's name is Sauron. And Melkor gives deceptive gifts to helper servants and they become Balrogs. Thus, the term "Balrogs of Morgoth."
So the filmmakers were able to touch upon this previous world in their films. You learn a lot more in that regard in The Silmarillion and understand Tolkien's overarching purpose.
As I said, it is a fantastic read. It is amazing to get the same quality story and writing as in LOTR, and it's all fresh and new rather than a story you know well!
My favorite learning was about the dwarves, and you begin to understand why it is such a big deal to Tolkien that Gimli the dwarf and Legolas the elf become friends. I owe the focus on this to Rachel; she expressed dissatisfaction with how in ROTK (the last film) the two of them are reduced to bit stunt players. With this new understanding, I was thinking to myself, "Wow, that's right. This is vitally important to the author." Let me explain.
Dwarves were created by Aule, who as I said before was one of the Valar who had gifts of craftmanship and making. Whereas elves are the Firstborn created by Illuvatar and thus fair and beautiful, dwarves are not created by Illuvatar. Essentially, Aule makes dwarves through his own thought and does not consult anyone else. Manwe, the king of the Valar, becomes aware of this, and Aule thinks he will have to destroy his creation. However, Manwe expresses Illuvatar's intent by letting them be alive. However, Illuvatar will not let dwarves have the same honored place as his chosen Elves, which would go against his intended purpose for the world. At this point, the firstborn have not yet come forth! So the dwarves are to remain underground until the firstborn have arisen. To allow them to endure, Aule makes the dwarves hard and tough, qualities that endure.
At the same time, Aule's wife Yavanna (who is heavily made up and a millionaire; oh I am sorry wrong Yvanna) lets her husband know that since he didn't bring her in on the thought, that his creation, dwarves, will be at odds with her realm, which is trees and other things that grow. Thus you see Gimli at odds with the forest in The Two Towers. The dwarves also have an animosity with elves and have very different purposes and aims. Their goals are completely different. Elves are fairest and wise, but they are no saints and they have their own particular beefs with the dwarves. So, the friendship between Legolas and Gimli is likely a great culmination in the author's thoughts. These two are given the final place in the history of the Fellowship in the appendices, as they ride off much like Frodo and Gandalf do at the end of The Return of the King. They are the last of the Fellowship to leave Middle Earth, either through death or by ship via the Grey Havens. This would be significant that Gimli could ride the ship, since the eternal place of elves and dwarves are not the same. Thus, Tolkien puts his own glad ending on the Fellowship through this merger of the two races.
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