Up

Pictures from my first attempt paragliding. Up in the mountains of Saitama, the greenery and cool weather were a perfect backdrop for soaring. A practice session was first held in the big grassy area you can see in the second picture where we learned to “rise up”. With that basic steps under our belts, we were ready to take off the 16m hill. On this glide I made it to the grate or about a 50m glide. There was little wind, for better or worse, so I think the flights were steady but short.

Dreams of paragliding as a hobby will have to wait until I live closer to the mountains, have enough money to burn on buying 600,000 yen worth of equipment, and enough time to travel to the practice area for three straight months every week.

For 10 glorious seconds I felt the thrill of falling in style.

Also…

• Today I joined Facebook. I hope it lets me find people so I can call them on the phone.
• Only three more months until the wedding and still so much to plan… rings!
• Can I provide for a family if my wife quits her job? I need stronger Japanese skills and more business knowledge. Stop being lazy.
• My bike chain is getting rusty.