PHOTO-A-DAY CHALLENGE
From Dark and Rainy Thoughts to More Uplifting Days
Week 157 of the photographic documentary of my daily life
It’s pouring down rain. I can hear the shower coming down onto our trailer roof and see the sheet of water next to my bed. The window is open and I can smell the fresh air. It’s cold.
Curled up in my bed, I’m just writing again. After working a bit on my book, I decided to write an article or two. The most productive I’ve been this year was certainly the past two weeks. At least productiveness toward writing.
There has to be something positive in everything that gets thrown at us, right?
Here we go. Starting this essay with a dry Thursday. After almost two weeks stuck in our trailer, except for some walks in the rain and gym sessions indoors, we were ready for some outdoor life.
And in case you were wondering why we weren’t working, it was blowing a gale out there. Winds up to 40 knots on the ground were a little too much for us to even consider skydiving. And it also didn’t sound fun to hike or swim, which is why we opted for a city trip.
Instead, we drove to Nuremberg, wandered through the streets lined with half-timbered houses, admired ancient churches and explored a castle. We sat down to drink some local beer and eat traditional sausages from Nuremberg while people watched on the streets.
It was the best we could do this day.
Coming back home, this beautiful sunset greeted us, promising better weather.
Friday then, we finally could get back up in the air, and even if we didn't do more than two jumps as the weather was closing in again, those two jumps were better than no jumps.
On Saturday, I did one more jump than Friday, still nothing what a good weekend in high season should look like, but at least we could work a little.
As the sky closed up again, I went for a late afternoon walk. Listening to the birds singing in the forest, eating wild blackberries growing in the undergrowth and watching butterflies dance around made me smile.
The sky was almost entirely dark but offered some sunset vibes toward the west.
Yip. On Sunday all I did was just watch rain drop from the skies.
Monday was just as miserable, but I didn’t mind as it was anyway the only day of the week we were officially closed and didn’t have any clients anyway. While working on my laptop, I watched a bird in the bushes next to my window.
Contrary to other birds who fly off the moment I look at my camera, this yellowhammer sat there patiently waiting for me to fetch my camera, open the window, hold it open with my elbow and snap a picture of him.
Not only that, but the bird kept flying away only to return a few minutes later with either seeds, some worm or a random bug in his beak. I had such joy watching and photographing him each time he showed up again.
All while it was raining outside.
Tuesday looked better again. At least no rain, but winds up to 25 knots on the ground. It was clear we couldn’t take the newly trained students in the air but sent at least three tandem loads up.
Below you can see a picture taken with a camera mounted to my wrist upon my approach for landing. I had to carefully plan my pattern as this wind would easily push me back into the cornfield if I turned in too late or too high.
Wednesday was just another rainy day where it only rained once.
It never stopped.
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:
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