The logic in jumping out of a plane 14,000 feet in the sky

Faith & Inspiration

By Charles Towne

Some folks don’t have the good sense God gave a goofy gopher!

To make a point, would you even consider going to Pamplona, Spain to run with the bulls? Me either. Due to my age, I can’t run all that fast anymore. But then, with the proper conditioning, maybe?

And then there is that thing about swimming with great white sharks, yeah, that could possibly be a rush!

But, can you even begin to understand what could possess a perfectly sane and rational gentleman such as myself, with half a brain, to jump out of a perfectly good plane over 14,000 feet in the sky?

And if you don’t know it, there are mountains much higher than that, and one comforting thing about falling off a mountain is the fact that the rocks will break your fall on the way down.

There are those folks that know me well enough to know that I am a rational and level-headed individual that is not the least bit impulsive, and never goes off and does anything even mildly stupid or idiotic, but… I must admit to the fact of the matter, I have had my moments, such as the first time I ever walked into a lion’s cage. That was exhilarating, at least for the lion!

And handling that 14-foot long king cobra wasn’t really all that unreasonable was it? Or how about following bears in their natural habitat for days at a time?

O.K., now that we have established the fact that only the mentally unbalanced would even consider jumping out of a perfectly good airplane three miles up in the sky, let me tell you a little of my recent experience of jumping out of a perfectly good airplane three miles up in the sky might feel like.

Exhilarating? Yeah. Breathtaking? Oh yeah. Would I recommend it for anybody? You bet!

Remember to equalize the pressure in your ears. I forgot, therefore I was totally deaf for the next hour.

What does it feel like? Falling, falling, falling, at 120 miles an hour. Did I mention falling?

The ground, which was three miles away mere minutes ago is suddenly rushing at you at Mach speed. “Raise your legs, we are coming in!”

I MADE A BEAUTIFUL DEAD DUCK LANDING!

A dead duck landing is what you get when you do everything wrong!

I laid there on the ground for a minute taking inventory.

(1) Still alive? Check.

(2) No broken bones? Check.

(3) Praise God and Kiss the ground! Check.

(4, 5, 6, and 7) Kiss the ground while thanking God for breaking my fall with the ground. Check.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention my jumping partner Leo, Leonardo De La Rosa Cano, my good friend from Venezuela.

Leo, much my junior, with a little gentle persuasion agreed to jump with me. I am sure the fracture in his arm will eventually heal after all the gentle persuasion.

And then there was my ground crew, Mike the emergency pilot, Ernie and Irene, the emergency medical team, (I think Irene had a band-aid in her purse.) Cindy and Linda the ground crew. They were there to remove any abused or misused body parts.

So, how soon will you be ready to go skydiving? Don’t worry about anything because we can always fall back on the old saying, “The Good Lord takes care of old men, women, children, and fools.” I guess we are all covered at that rate!

Papa God, please protect us from stupid mistakes, ideas that seem good at the time, and people that try to persuade us that stupid is normal. Amen.

Charles Towne is first and foremost a Christian. An octogenarian, author, journalist, wildlife photographer, naturalist, caregiver, and survivor, his life has been and continues to be, a never-ending adventure filled with possibilities never imagined. He has adopted the philosophy that to Live fully, laugh uproariously, love passionately, and learn like there is no tomorrow, is a formula for a long and joy-filled life.