PHOTO-A-DAY CHALLENGE
Back to the Skies
Week 158 of the photographic documentary of my daily life
Yes, the sun is back, the skies have cleared and the rains have stopped, at least for a few hours a day. This allowed us to get back to work.
As you can see, my job as a skydiving instructor isn’t just about jumping out of a plane and taking those crazy enough to sign up for a tandem jump with me.
No, I also have to entertain them. I have to make the video they booked look good. The video they paid lots of money for. So while we’re falling at 200 kph toward Earth, I have to hold my hand stable to get a good shot while the passenger might be kicking with their legs and fighting around with their arms.
If they lie relaxed and stable, I’ll try to play with them, like creating a heart with my free hand. The girl above cooperated. Then I just had to move the camera mounted on my other hand into the right spot.
I think the result is great. Especially since I blocked her face with my arm and I can use the picture here.
Yes, after all my whining and complaining, we got blue skies again. Here is the sunrise from Thursday. Or a little later, the sun was already strong and above the horizon.
On Friday, I got up a little earlier and got an even prettier sunrise with some air traffic lines in the sky. Promise for another great day at work. I clocked in the end 10 jumps. And yes, after weeks of no to little work, I was exhausted.
Saturday, we were hosting a summer fest at the airport. We were offering a training camp and competition for upcoming skydivers and still did the usual tandem and student jumps. We had a food truck on-site and a party planned for later in the evening.
If you look at the picture below, you can see what the weather gods were thinking of our plans. Not much. In the early afternoon, some clouds moved in and soon the rain was there. We were forced to stop the jumping side of the event earlier but still had a great party.
The harvesters got out now. After weeks of rain, they were trying to save the crops. Two days of sunshine and every minute of dry air counts.
Farmers need both, rain and sunshine but whenever one of the two arrives out of proportion, they are in trouble.
Monday, our off day. And since friends of ours came by for a visit, we decided to head down to the lake for some wakeboarding. Of course, we knew it’d be packed as it was a public holiday and summer vacation in full swing but so what?
Standing in the line waiting for our turn gave our arms a break. It was my third time wakeboarding and I do enjoy the sports but I’m broken for days after.
Have you ever heard of knee-boarding? See below, that’s David racing the course on a kneeboard. During his last round, he even took the jump you can now see in front of him.
Tuesday, back to work. And summer vacations also mean we’re getting more and more children. Yes, here in Germany, parents can sign up their kids for a skydive. I know, in the States you’ll have to be 18 for the fun. Over here, we just wait for the little ones to at least have their ears properly developed. From the age of 10 on, children are allowed to do a tandem skydive as long as they are tall enough to fit in the harness.
And I hate it.
I see no point in taking a kid that young on such an extreme adventure. There are a million reasons behind it and I could fill an entire article with it, but here, I am saying not much.
Whenever I do jump with a minor, I tell the others I’d like to take the seat in the plane leading to the last exit. In case this child freaks out in the plane or refuses the jump, I’ll have no problems letting the others go ahead without needing to shuffle around in the tight plane.
I didn’t experience it yet, but I also try not to take them if I don’t have to. Below you can see me moving to the door with a 12-year-old in front of me while my colleague is launching first.
Let’s change the topic in case this was too much adrenaline for you. When we moved into our trailer this spring, I planted a few vegetables outside and carried one palm-tree-kind-of-plant inside. I wanted some greens. There is not much space, but that one plant was what I wanted.
And look at it now. Friends and students of mine have gifted me more and more over time. This corner is long full and usually this is a place for us to put our wallets, sunglasses or other things. Not anymore.
But I like the greens and blooming beauties. And the greeting cards I received with them.
This has been my week in photographs. 7 days. 7 photographs. Anyone can join. Once. Or weekly. It doesn’t matter. We welcome everyone! Dennett started this photography challenge in 2020 and many have participated ever since.
Dennett / Erika / Eileen / K. Barrett / Juan / David / Mia / Susan / LensAfield / Kim / Barbara / Diana / Barb / Sandra / Shruthi / Ellie / Pene / Olive / Gustavo / Jane / Penny / Jillian / Shell / Ivy / Lisa / Lynne
And these are the previous weekly photo essays:
Join my email list here if you would like to read more photo essays or sign up for the Medium membership to receive unlimited access to my and other writers’ stories out here (I will receive a commission fee in return).
Shutterstock | Instagram | YouTube | Mailchimp | Amazon | Redbubble