(yes, more photos, after the text)
1. The Graciousness of my Spanish Host Families: I know I’ve
said this many times before, but I could never overstate the kindness,
graciousness, and hospitality of my two Spanish host families. I feel kinda badly because, when Sandra and
Marina were living with my family (the summers of 2011 and 2013, respectively),
we followed the protocol suggested by our American hosting organization, that
is, they had to do their share of the housework, and they had to pay for their
own entrance into all activities. Here,
I wasn’t allowed to do any work, or pay for anything! But mostly, it was their enthusiasm to share
with me everything of importance in their respective lives, from food to
culture to history to conversation.
2. The Design of the Planet: As my daughter, Amy has gotten
more and more interested in areas such as astrophysics and molecular biology, she’s
passed those interests along to me. I’ve
become more and more aware of the unimaginable hostility of the forces in the
universe, and the seeming impossibility of the existence of a planet as stable,benign,
and hospitable as Earth. Just as one example:
the air is stable enough that life can exist, but it’s unstable enough that we
have wind and thermals to hang glide!
3. The Desire to Fly: I’ve always had dreams of being able to
fly, and history is filled with examples of that desire, from the natural (riding
on dragons) to the supernatural (magic) to the myth-makers (Icarus and Daedalus)
to the engineers (da Vinci, Lilienthal, Wright, et al). I feel unfairly privileged to live in a time
in history and economy where I can fly on an apparatus that is so close to the
flying of my dreams.
4. My Hang Gliding Teachers, Mentors, and Encouragers: John,
Jonny, Matt, Rex, Paul, Lauren, Ollie, Mike, Mark, Mitch, Linda, and a hundred
others.
5. My Flight over Mt. Arangoiti: As previously described,
definitely the most beautiful flight of my life!
6. That I Wasn’t More Seriously Injured: From studying the launch
sequence photos, and specifically from noting that the flag was still (wind
speed zero), I realize that I “pounded in hard” to a surface of mixed grass and
rocks at a speed of about 25 mph (40 kmh).
Also, because I was still attempting to attain flight (as compared to a
planned landing), I had a firm grip on the base bar at the time of impact, a
very bad combination for running into “the edge of the sky” (the ground). (Oh yeah, the outcome of the MRI - nothing torn, I only inflamed a previous lesion of the rotater cuff, and bruised the bone.)
7. The Spanish Medical Care System: I’m not making this
up. I got no bill from the ambulance
because the service is provided by the good people of Spain (I’m unclear about what
the bill is for the E.R. and hospital stay).
We called at 4 pm on Tuesday for an appointment with an orthopaedic
doctor, and I got one the next morning at 10 am. When I got there at 10, I saw him at 10. Then they took me to x-rays, which was the
same person as the ortho doctor. Then
they read the x-rays, which was also the same person. Then they sent me for an MRI at 12:30. I got the results back the next morning. They couldn’t bill my American medical
insurance company, of course, so I had to pay in cash. The total bill for the doctor, x-rays, and
MRI was 230 Euro (about $300 US). But it
wasn’t just the speed and the cost, it was the attentiveness of the doctors,
nurses, and staff, and their patience with my language ignorance, that was the
most impressive. I’m not saying I haven’t
gotten fantastic care from my providers in Florida, because I have, but the “system”
in Spain is just so phenomenal - at
least it was for me, in this experience.
8. My Family: Obviously it was a big sacrifice for my family to
allow me to use 6 weeks of vacation time, and to spend quite a sum of money
(all on credit) to take this opportunity to visit and hang glide Europe. But Anna supports my love for my sport and my
belief that if I’m going to do this, I need to pursue it aggressively now, and
not wait until I “retire”, because who knows whether I will have the capability
(to fly, or even to travel) or even (not to be morbid, but) if I will live to
that age. (My thanks to Bill Beattie for
my inspiration in this regard!)
9. God’s Providence: This was my 5th major hang gliding comp,
but the first one in which I was out of my country, and can’t speak the
language. At three of the other four, I
camped, and in Texas I was in a hotel.
This was the first (and probably the only one ever) where the
headquarters was a half-hour drive to a welcoming home. To have such wonderful care, at a time and
place where I was essentially helpless and clueless, was way beyond what I
deserve.
10. More Time to Tour Europe: After I had planned out my entire
trip, my one regret was that I had scheduled it so tightly that I had no time
to explore ad hoc. And Jenny’s family
had more places to take me in Germany than the number of days I had
allotted. So I’m looking forward to this
unexpected leeway in my trip. I’ll hang
out at Annecy, France for a few days (probably the most populous hang gliding
site in the world), have more time to visit the Black Forest Academy (an
American school in Germany), get to visit with my hang gliding buddy Thomas at
an awesome site in Austria, tour slowly northward through Germany including a
few places I really wanted to see, and have a more relaxed schedule with Jenny’s
family.
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| When I arrived at HQ, I was met by Latvinia, one of my favorite international pilots, whom I know from comps in the U.S. and Quest (my local hang gliding site). |
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| At the north launch, Mt Arangoiti, the day before the comp. |
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| On Thursday, the wind was too strong to fly at Mt Arangoiti, so we went to Sopelana for fun. This is the launch (folk singers came after we had vacated). |
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| On Friday, the wind was too strong to fly at Mt Arangoiti, so we went to another mountain about 100 km to the west. |
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| Discussion: with these conditions, and the state of the launch, can we fly? |
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| Let's go!!! (4 pilots flew). |
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| Not all flew, but all ate tapas. |
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| Near where I landed on Saturday. |
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| Near where I landed on Saturday. |
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| Picking up one more pilot who "landed out". |
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| Marina and her friends at the last night of San Fermin. |
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| The task on Sunday that I didn't fly. |
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| Going to get cash in Spain - from Deutsche Bank (because my bank has a deal with them). I enjoyed having the chance to walk through Pamplona, with my gracious tour guide, Marina. |
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| Pamplona water fountain. Delicious!! |
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