Paramotoring Adventure continued

The last days were hard and long but were so worth it in the end. I may have only gotten two flights in but my adventure into this new world of flying is far from over. Once you get a taste of the freedom and the views from above you just can't get from inside a cockpit or seat in a plan there is no way you can just say "okay I've done it and now I'm done." There is nothing like being in the sky like a bird and having the ability to feel the wind and coolness of the air on your skin and not be falling through it but staying aloft taking it all in at your leisure. The physical factors are easy to explain to someone, but the emotions there are no words simply because it is unique to each person.
I am beyond grateful to my husband for bringing this adventure into our lives and for the people who have become part of our lives through this experience. As my new parasister says, pay attention to those taps on your shoulder when they come and stay open to what is out there to experience. If you are unhappy, change one thing and keep moving forward away from the unhappy. Only you can change your unhappy. Grow your wings in whatever way you need, but keep growing and choose to be happy. Live your life, don't let it just pass you by.

Paramotor Adventure Continued...

Today was an amazing day, I got my second flight in this morning and the takeoff was beautiful. I was scored a nine out of ten score for my take off. Now I just have to get my landings to be just as beautiful. :) The flight was a quick one so I could practice the takeoffs and landings but when I went for my second takeoff for the morning I realized how fatigued I was and had to take a break. I know once I get the techniques down it won't be as physically draining to do repeated takeoffs.
I do feel the heat has a lot to do with it because as the morning progressed the temperature increased, I do believe it reached 102 degrees today. Very hot!
I am still waiting to get a copy of my first flight to share. If you want to follow and see the videos you can follow me on Instagram @authordmsimpson

Emotional Roller Coaster...

I previously started telling you about my adventure in paramotor training, what I did not mention was the emotional roller coaster. I have covered the range from emotional happiness to emotional angriness.
The night before my first flight, which is actually taxi practice my eyesight was too bad for me to participate other than to assist the others. I accepted this decision and watched as the others don'd the paramotors, attach the wings, and taxi towards our instructors. Every one of them ran into the sky while I watched from the ground.
The hardest one to watch, you would think was my son, but nope it was my husband. My heart was in my throat until he was clear of the ground kicking his legs letting us know he was okay. So in just a matter of minutes, I went from disappointment to fear to overwhelming excitement for him as well as for the others, my son, my learning partner, my father-n-law, and my son's learning partner. However, after we debriefed for the evening I felt this rush of anger at myself because I couldn't fly too.
The next day was my husbands turn to watch me leave the ground for the first time and here is where I went through my heart in my throat knowing I was about to take off and run into the sky. Unfortunately, this did not happen the first or second attempts. After the second failed attempt fear took hold and I was almost convinced I wouldn't be able to do it. I was so fortunate to have the best learning partner who got me past the fear and emotional meltdown.
I set up for the third attempt and I achieved my first successful run into the sky. I was so excited to have made it off the ground first then the scene laying out in front of me as I leveled out the wing was so breathtakingly beautiful filled me with such joy all I could do was let out a howler to let those below know I was not only good, I was over the moon. There really are no words to explain or describe the feeling being in the sky looking down over the ground and being able to see for miles with no obstructions, no noise but your own heartbeat, the wind, and the motor behind you. When I landed, not so gracefully I might add, I earned my call Happy Feet :) When I am able to upload my flight video you will see how and why I earned it.
Also while I was on my first flight I actually got to be in the air at the same time as my son and he got to watch me from the air take off. I am patiently, not, waiting for my second flight which will be tomorrow morning due to wind issues. I will explain those in the next post.

Paramotoring Adventure

Hi all, it has been some time since I posted last due to lots and lots of projects and no time to sit down to talk. This week I started paramotoring training with some of my family. I have been posting videos each day to Instagram, Facebook, & Twitter so yall can follow along with my adventure in learning how to go from being a flightless bird to an airborne flightless bird with assistance.
I originally was excited for my husband to do this as well as two of our boys, but circumstances created an opportunity for me to join in on the experience. I have to say after three days I am so glad it did. I have always enjoyed flying when I traveled so when I met my husband the desire to be the one behind the controls grew. Unfortunately, due to my blindness in the left eye flying an actual plane became something I knew I would not be able to do so him finding the paramotoring sport turned out to be my chance to actually get to fly and be in control.
We have been in training now for three days with some really amazing instructors who have in just a short time brought us from spectators to operators. I don't believe any other instructors could have clicked with our group as well and as quickly as these guys have. We are still their students but they have become family in my view, as well as have the other two students who were added to our class because with just my crew we made a class of four. So now our class is a class of six with three instructors.
To follow along and see me doing the different things we are being taught - Kiting, Lean-backs, Motorsims, Towing, Taxi practice, and finally First Flight go to my Instagram page and join in on the fun. You can find me @authordmsimpson

Yard Adventures...

We have started our work on the yard to put up a fence for our puppies. However, the hubby got carried away and has cleared the spaces for the concrete slabs for buildings as well. Which in hindsight, was a good thing since he had a bobcat to do the digging. This way we don't have to do the digging with shovels, I am all for that part. Unfortunately, he found the drain field of the septic so now we have to fix that before we can do any more work in the main part of the back yard up near the house. The joys of yard projects when you don't have an accurate description of where things are in your yard. Learning the hard way seems to be our way of doing things...lol
Despite the hard parts things are coming along really well for the lack of steady help since everyone else has to work outside the house and the hubby is on leave after returning from being gone for six months. I will keep showing the progress as we get there. :)

  

   

  

 

Kindness Surprise

The other day I was at the store doing my grocery shopping not paying much attention to much else as I walked through the store filling my cart with the items I needed. The main goal, as it always is, was to get what I needed and get out. I am not a shopper by any means. I do it because I have too. So, I finished my shopping and got into the check out line. I generally will use the self check out cause it is faster but since I had fresh veggies I didn't want to have to deal with the whole looking them up myself so I got in a regular check out lines and waited. It turned out I found myself behind a woman who had misplaced her debit card. She was so embarrassed and said to the cashier, please do what you have to do so I don't continue to hold up the people behind me. She also proceeded to apologize to me for having to wait on her. I told her not to worry about it, it happens to the best of us and wished her luck in locating her card. As I stood there with the cashier waiting for the front end supervisor to come clear the sale, I found myself asking the cashier how much the bill was and paid it. I have always believed in the mindset of paying it forward and have done it a few times. This time stands out to me more than others, not only because it just happened, but because of the reaction I witnessed from me just being who I am. The woman didn't realize what I had done for several minutes, however, the cashier was very touched and surprised by my action. She teared up but tried her best to actually hide the fact she was crying. She said she had never witnessed such kindness and my act made her day and showed her there are people out there who care. The woman who had lost her card was still frantically looking for her card, sitting a few feet away and still had not realized when I handed her, her receipt that I had paid it. I happened to look over and could see she was looking at the receipt in confusion and the moment she realized I saw her surprise. I went back over to her and told her I hoped she found her card. She looked up at me and asked, did you pay this, I simply smiled and say yes, and said all I ask is for you to show the same kindness when you have the chance and that is all the thank you I need, just pay it forward when you have the chance.
It truly is amazing to me how surprised people are when kindness is shown. It saddens me that when someone shows kindness others are so surprised by the action. To me, kindness is second nature. I am just so glad I remain who I am regardless of the negativity in the world. I refuse to give into it and let go of who I am and what I believe in. I have always tried to be the best human being I can be no matter what is happening around me. So this is the note I leave, be kind when you are given the chance and do it because it is the right thing to do. When the chance presents itself, pay it forward, the real reward is knowing you showed kindness.