The Art of Falling

I have been falling a lot lately. I fall a lot every Sunday at hockey. Luckily for me, hockey is over as of today, just in time for me to attend the beginners' clinic I should have attended first.

I have also been falling out of airplanes. Last Sunday, on one of the few spectacular days we have had this summer, my friends Mike and Douglas agreed to go skydiving with me. Mike would still be on the plane if he had his choice. Douglas grinned nervously but was game. I had to be held back and told in no uncertain terms that my tandem instructor gets to decide when we go, not when I decide I want to hurl myself out of the plane at 14,000 feet. It was fantastic!

You want me to jump out of a perfectly good airplane?

We went through Skydive Snohomish who came recommended by several people at work. They have been doing it for years and you can tell. It's a factory line of first time jumpers. If you don't read any of the detailed ways you can die when you sign the waiver form, you should be good to go.

Mike and I demonstrating our various methods of free fall.

I would definitely do it again but after being told that once you become certified it becomes kind of "meh" when you jump because you've done it so many times, I decided once a year should be good and will keep the excitement level higher.

I also did the Warrior Dash the weekend prior with a friend from work. The Dash is a 3.5 mile run with 10 obstacles, many involving mud (more falling) and one involving fire. I had a blast. Although I have never been that filthy in my life. This was us *after* cleaning ourselves off:

Mud does however, help quench fire.

Part of our race entry fee went to these awesome furry warrior helmets which, alas, I could not fit over my hockey helmet though I tried valiantly.

Nordic power.

So it's been a busy time for us. This Wed. I go to Iceland for a much needed vacation for a week. I hear it's beautiful this time of year. I also hear, via a friend at work who did important research for me, that the ratio of men to women is 4:1. Other than that, I don't know much about Iceland but I'm about to find out.

All the critters are thriving. After much agonizing debate on my part, I decided it simply wasn't feasible or safe for me to have Ares and the Polar Bear in my house right now, given the layout and the relatively small yard. My mom helped me drive Ares back to the Tri-Cities to his foster mom which can be summed up in me crying for 8 hours straight at the thought of giving him back. But the whole episode taught me a lot and I won't make the same mistakes again. Ares is doing fine on the east side while he awaits a new home. If my house sells before he is adopted, I will rent a house on land and permanently adopt him.

Speaking of adopting, a couple weeks ago, I went back over to Sequim to visit Blanco, one of Ares' sons. He is doing fantastically well and has put on 20 pounds since he was adopted. He no longer looks emaciated and neglected. He is living a life every LGD could only dream of and is spoiled rotten. We took Blanco and his gal pal CoCo on a hike up to the bluffs along the ocean and then back down. He did great on leash and allowed me to handle him and pet him this time which was a huge step forward. He helped offset my sadness at losing Ares.

CoCo in the background, always smiling.

Blanco with his wonky ear, refusing to look at the camera.

PB and I haven't been up to Canada in ages. We are scheduled to go up to Boundary Bay the Monday I return from Iceland and we are very much looking forward to it. PB is not impressed with how little we have gotten out this year.

Finally, meet my new motorcycle:

AKA: The death trap.

It's a 2008 Honda CBR600RR Graffiti Edition. I am buying it from a friend at work who had an "incident" on it which required a rod in his shoulder to fix. He warned me against buying a sport bike but I was unmoved. I have also been warned that it now has bad juju but then so do I so I think we'll be a great match! He is fixing one final part due to the "incident" and then it will be ready for me. When I get back from Iceland, my new toy awaits. I can hardly stand the excitement!

Which brings us back to falling...