The Fall From 17,500 Feet

I knew when Gabri decided on a whim to head back to Colorado for a long weekend, that there was going to be some shenanigans. The extent of which, I was not completely prepared for…

While coming back to Colorado, only to then watch two Vancouver bred bands was energy pumping, and sipping tea at the end of a day was quite relaxing, the most exhilarating of the weekend’s events was deciding to take one giant leap! No I did not go to the moon, or change the course of life for all of mankind!

This leap was into the thin air of Colorado’s blue-sky from a moving airplane at seventeen thousand feet above sea level! I have never been against the idea of sky diving; but, honestly, I wouldn’t have initiated this activity.

I was running nearly half an hour late trying to rush my way through I-25 traffic to the tiny airport situated in the boonies between my new home in Fort Collins and my past home of Denver. In a way, I am thankful I was so focused on getting to the hanger; it kept my mind clear from the anxiety of jumping.

When I finally arrived, I was rushed through the paperwork and placed into the most amazingly purple and yellow one piece! This onesie came fully equipped with foam padding to make my curvaceous body more aerodynamic, Velcro ankle straps to adjust the length of the pant leg to short-girl length and one serious harness. My kind ginger-headed flight master David with the alias “Green Swooper” named for his bright neon-green parachute and matching jumpsuit, helped me with the basic concepts of this stylized form of falling.

Before I knew it, I was in the tiny bench seat of an airplane headed for the sky. Each of us wide-eyed watched the safe, comfortable earth slip beyond our grasp as distance grew. Gabri remained surprisingly relaxed, Truman was giddy with excitement and I just let the experience sink in. Our three flight masters joked with us making sure we remained calm as our altitude climbed. At about three fourths of the total jumping height, David looked over at me and asked me to sit on his lap. Oh yes, to sit on his lap! Of course, it was only to strap my harness to his. Without much warning the more experienced divers flung open the sliding protector at the back of the plane and were rapidly jumping into oblivion! We lined up, slowly and awkwardly walking to the opening. I watched Gabri flip upside down, mouth open, and new it was my turn!

I somersaulted out the plane trying to remember the few responsibilities I had on this jump: Pelvis Out! Kick Back! We stabilized chest towards the ground. Time seemed to stop.
I forced breaths of the thin empty air into my chest. The sky pressed against my body and I looked in front of me at the mountains touching the clouds. I was even with the majestic fourteen thousand foot peaks of Colorado and falling fast! Those forty-five seconds of freefall were full of peace, wonderment and ecstasy. Eventually David had to pat my shoulder signalling the time to pull the parachute. With one single jerk I went from speeding through the sky at 118 miles per hour to a feather-like float. With huge swooping turns David and I made our way back down to the landing field. The skies seemed to wait for us, and upon our landing the grey clouds took over the entire blue blanket above us and let out several soundless lightening bolts ending our glorious visit to the world of stylized falling.

Silence is Golden

I have never appreciated being able to communicate quite like I did during my Vow of Silence. From Midnight of March 19th until midnight of the 21st, I did not speak. Well okay, I did not mean to speak. I did slip up once or twice, but for the majority of the time I remained silent.

The question now arises, who would voluntarily go through a trial like this? Well, I would! Among many reasons, there are two I am willing to share.

The first, the more obvious, was to raise money. Through my silence I raised awareness and over $100 that will go to build a school in Sierra Leone. The silence was symbolic of the unheard voices of children unable to move beyond their standings in life. The group, Free the Children, use the money they receive for several different projects involving self-sustaining living environments focusing on the children within those communities.

The second, a personal challenge. Being silent for a full 48 hours is difficult; if you don’t believe me try it! I set high goals for myself. My first guidelines involved no gesturing, writing (other than class notes), or verbal speaking. I would simply float through the days just breathing, eating and listening. I really wanted to experience being ostracized, and it worked! So well in fact after about 6 hours, I gave that in and started gesturing. The following day, when I got really frustrated I even wrote.

The inability to communicate is terrible. I haven’t experienced anything like it before. Much of the time, I actually was participating in the conversations around me, all within my head. I had to question myself if it was my inside or outside voice. Even now that I am speaking again, I second-guess myself. The point was made. Only after this experience, do I have any inclination of what it fills like to be stuck in a situation without much chance of escape. However, mine was escapable at any minute I could scream if I needed or change the circumstances I was in. I am thankful I had the support of those around me, cheering me on, making me laugh, and just being there when I was aggravated.
I am not sure if I will ever go silent in this manor again, but I am thankful of the knowledge and compassion I gained from it.

Okay, so I started this blog thing, and of course as soon as school started up my life became overwhelming and I stopped adding updates. So here it is! Cole is back on the blog!

I have been having a crazy time up here in the Great White North! Oh wait, I am in the warmest part of all of Canada! And white? What is this about white? It only snows (slushes) three times a year! Anyways, I have been meeting heeps of great people and having wonderful visits from friends, and just really learning to love where I am in life.

School is well, school. I have some classes that I leave inspired and then there are the ones that make me dread getting up in the morning. Then I remember, I am doing this for myself, to go where I want to go. That is when I smile.

Just to give you an idea of what sort of shenanigans I have been getting up to:
Snowboardin’ at Whistler
Skinny Dipping in the Middle of a snowstorm
Attack of the Bed bugs! (… eeew!)
BBQ’s at the beach
Just lovin life.

Of course there have been the challenges; but as always, I try to take them and learn from them.

Oh yeah on really exciting piece of news, I was accepted to go on exchange to Australia! I will be studying in Sydney from March 2008 until November 2008!
My love to you all…

We're in Canada Eh?

I had waited for the chance to study in British Columbia for so long that the anticipation for getting me student visa was immense! While I was waiting, and the customs officer looked through paper after paper, I felt my heart slowly creeping into my throat. I should be fine getting into the country, but, this guy in his blue-bullet-proof vest that probably gave him an ego trip had the chance to deny me my visa. What if he just hated my smile, or Coloradans, he could think of an excuse not to let me in. I heard people in Park City mentioning how nervous they would get when they were in LA airport waiting for their visa to be approved. I think I get what they are talking about. It isn't likely that you will be turned away. But there is that chance. It is scary to know you are placing your job or in my case education, in the hands of a ego-filled customs officer! Then he did something that brought me back to my senses, "It's probably a lot cheaper for you, eh?" EH!!!!! He really said it with the full on stereotyped accent and everything! When I was in Toronto, no one actually used it! For some reason by him saying that silly little word, I felt relief! My heart went back to its normal location and my mind was set to ease. This lovely Canadian in his striking blue uniform was of course going to give me my permit. Why wouldn't he? I am paying for it! Not to mention I do have a wicked cute smile!

It seems unreal that it is finally happening! I am in Vancouver, British Columbia waiting for classes to begin! The campus is as beautiful as I imagined. As soon as I have a camera, I will definitely place a photo!

Always looking for the next adventure...

Unfortunately, my last week of summer is in A-town! That's right, I am not ending summer with a bang! So after my quick trip across that great big blue thing called the ocean, I worked in Colorado for a while. Then my travel bug hit! I couldn't stay in Aurora for the whole summer! So I headed down to Lake Powell for some fun in the oh too hot sun. Somewhere along the way I found myself back in Prk City. This time, painting lifts! That's right I was a good ole fashion workin' girl! It was great though! The time flew by with biking, and scenic day trips! Now with the summer ending reality kicked in. So here I am stuck in Aurora for hopefully the last time... Ever!

I have been trying to make it worth my while. You can make anything an adventure! I remember when my backyard used to be the deep jungles of Africa! And the huge rock in front of the house, a ship sailing through the ocean! Where did that kind of imagination go? Who says it has to be! So my personal challenge for the remainder of my time here is to be creative! I am going to have the best damn time here in Aurora! It is going to be so amazing all of you will be green with envy!

So far, my only adventure was a crazy shopping trip to the ole Aurora Mall. Man was it thrilling! Check out the hotness! Yes, this dress was actually for sale! I actually hope it goes on clearance just so I can play dress up more often!! Watch out eighties here I come! Maybe I'll even get some neon tights to really spice it up! Well the adventures of A-town are just under way! Only six more days of out-of-control fun left! I better hurry!

World Music
by Kamau Daáood

one thousand saxophones
seven hundred kotos
eleven machetes dripping sugarcane
three hundred violins
six hundred fifty bagpipes
fresh cut bamboo screaming
nine thousand birds in prayer
two thousand mechanics
grease buried beneath short fingernails
eight hundred sitars
seven ten-foot gongs

one million tearless children in Ethiopia
three hundred hammers
two hundred saws
ten holy men in subways
twelve divine mothers in wash houses
fifteen hundred shovels in South African Mines
forty-nine koras and seventeen balaphones
seven thousand and three assorted drums
seven thousand and two assorted hearts
fifty steel drums

ten thousands midwives carrying fresh fruit
seventy purple banjos
half a million Muslims chanting Quran
six thousand birds of paradise
one hundred golden fishermen’s nets
three thousand silkworms
eight thousand waterfalls
seven trillion ten billion six hundred and
one million two hundred and four tubas
and one black chopstick