PHOTO-A-DAY CHALLENGE
Working in the Circus Tent
Week 32 of the photographic documentary of my daily life
It had been a busy week. I’ve been on the packing mat for about 10 to 12 hours a day. I’m exhausted. My hands are full of blisters and my knees tell me I am way older than I feel.
You’re not following me? You’re asking yourself what I am talking about? Let me explain to you everything step-by-step in this photographic documentary. One photo a day and you should know by the end of the week what kept me busy.
On day one? Not much. It was one of those miserably grey in grey days. The fog was hanging so low above the ground I could barely see the ocean from my window. Only when you know where to look you can see the waves.
On day two not much had changed. I just got back from my morning exercise in the gym when I snapped the shot of our street. It was another one of these, particularly grey days.
But then the weather changed. And so did my itinerary. The local skydiving community is hosting an event where 35 European skydivers flew across the African continent to fly through the Namibian sky.
And I am part of the organizing team. Next to running around and making sure all our visitors are having a great time I was in the mentioned circus tent. Packing parachutes. Because without that nobody gets up in the air.
After each jump, those parachutes need to get repacked.
In between all the packing, I got a sneaky jump in. Just to have some fun as well while working all day long. I always love going up in the sky. It makes me happy.
Well and this is the mentioned circus tent. This is indeed where all the magic happens. On a few carpets on the desert floor, the parachutes get folded back up and packed into the rigs again.
I alone packed around 20 parachutes today. My hands were wound in the evening. From all the pulling and pushing the fabric back into the small containers they belong to.
This is one of the two planes bringing all the excited skydivers up in the air. It’s my favorite one. Of course. Because this one is yellow. And the other one white. But also because it has the most amazing paint job I’ve ever seen on a plane.
This is the moment in between the loads. In the background, you can see the jumpers landing from the previous load. While the plane is about to touch down on the desert soil the next load is already patiently waiting for boarding.
And I will get the next parachutes placed in front of my packing mat. By the end of today, I reached 25 pack jobs. I can feel the pain not only in my hands and arms but my entire upper body is sore. Packing parachutes should count as exercise too.
But I am not complaining. On days like these, I am grateful for every opportunity of getting some work in. And I’m enjoying the vibes out here in the desert. Lots of happy people. Great conversations and lots of laughter.
This has been my week in photographs. I hope you could follow my descriptions. I tried not to use too many technical terms. But don’t hesitate to ask me any questions.
Dennett has started this photography challenge sometime last year. This isn’t about competing against each other but much more about finding the beauty in each day. Share one photograph a day and add a caption to it.
There’s a whole community behind this challenge participating each week. It gives us an insight into each other’s lives. It’s interesting and beautiful. Here are some of the other writers taking part in the fun. Have a look at their work too:
Erika Burkhalter / Eileen Vorbach Collins / Dennett / Sasha Meyer / Tracy Aston/ Lisa Bolin / Juan O. Aguilera / David Wade Chambers / June Nguyen / Mia Verita
My latest photo essays…
Join my email list here.
Anne Bonfert is a traveler. Photographer. Writer. Teacher. Skydiving instructor. Adventure enthusiast. Nature lover. And fell in love with the African continent.
