The adventure that I experienced quite unexpectedly, as a result of mistaken identity.

Date:   11/11/2005 2:31:50 PM ( 19 y ago)

Out for a holiday.
Out to the airshow.
All of 19 years old.

There I went, for a day of looking
at old aircraft,
enjoying the atmosphere of watching
flyers demonstrate their skills.
(and to enjoy the wonderful homemade lemonaides).

I went with a friend,
who was learning to fly,
and quickly abandoned me
to go try out the gliders etc,
which you could solo in
if you had some accredations in flying.

I was watching the free rides
being given by an older man,
in his wonderful bi-wing
open cockpit fighter plane.
(ala Snoopy the Red Baron )

It seemed to me to be a nice pleasant ride
that he was giving each person,
doing the same thing for each one.

I took my place in line
*smile*
When my turn came,
he smiled extra broadly and said
Hey there little lady!
helped me up, handed me the old leather cap,
and jumped in front.

(note: alert to self that I missed)
Everyone else he had buckled in himself,
and attached the cap!
He yelled at me, from the front
to give him the heads up when ready!

I quicky struggled to figure out
the belt and arm/ shoulder straps
and pulled them as tight as I could,
and barely got the cap strapped on
when all of a sudden we were on the runway !

I grabbed onto the sidebars,
as he yelled back ready for some fun ?
Hmmm (second alert *laugh*)

Off we went barreling down,
Wind and noise all around,
and then up , up , up , up, up, ,up ,up ?
(3rd alert!!
this is not what I saw others getting!)
Next thing I knew,
I was looking side wise at the earth
and then was some how upside down !!
Feeling the leather straps dig into my shoulders,
as my body weight shifted,
and I was holding on
as tight as I could to the sidebars.

We barely came out of this loop,
When I noticed it looked like we were barreling
to the ground at breakneck speed.
He buzzed by the field
and I could see the faces
of the people there,
clapping in delight!

It seemed we were within bare feet
of the ground!
Did we stop ? Oh NO!

We speeded up faster until I saw the trees
at the end, and thought (we are going to crash!)
At the very last instant he pulled the plane up ,
and looped to the side hard.
He semi circled back and we came in for an
incredibly soft and graceful landing.

He got out.
I was unsure if I was still in my body (laugh).
He held out his hand
and escorted me away
from the plane like a princess.

When we got to a less noisy spot,
He said with a big smile ,
"well I guess that brings back great memories."
I said, I beg your pardon?
He said, didn't your father
take you along when he crop dusted?
I said, No, my father never cropdusted.
He said, well the guy over there
said you had been raised by a father
that cropdusted long ago,
and when you were little took you along.
He pointed to the man..
Who was standing next to a woman in line,
(waving and pointing at her)

*laugh *
Mistaken Identity !
What an experience,
I might never have had,
but by this wonderful occurance!

The man apologised to me profusely,
but I assured him,
even tho unexpected,
it had been a most exhilarating adventure!

He joked, and said now he had to do it
all over again for the other woman,
*Laugh* and then everyone will expect it !

What a day (smile).

That blast of spontaneous adventure,
encouraged me to go into a *safer air ride*
in a small 6 seater light weight aircraft.

But the day was not yet thru with me..
I got the *lucky seat*
next to the pilot..
in the asst. pilot seat.
Just lovely. (semi -sarcastic)

The flight was delightful,
beautiful, wonderful...
then the pilot leans over to me,
and starts telling me how the pedals work
and the up/down of the steering action.

Next thing I know he says
here you try it,
and switched it over to me!
OMG! WOW!
Talk about immediate focus!

I was flying!
He was so calm and spoke very evenly,
telling me what to do,
and let this continue for
(what seemed to me a very long time)
but in reality was probably maybe a couple minutes.

Incredible, awesome, exhilarating,
there are no words to describe it.

This was my day of adventure.

Unfortuneately, my friend,
(who had abandoned me)
did not have that great a day
(laugh)
as the wind currents for gliding
were not as satisfying for him that day,
and his goal of *joy-ride seeking*
did not pan out.
I think he was even a bit jealous of
my adventures.. but, oh well.

Looking for a nice calm day of lemonaide?
Watch out for the curveballs life might
have in store for you .
They just might be wonderous joyrides!
Life is full of beautiful, unexpected fun
when we stay open to adventure.

I could have sat and felt abandoned
by a friend and had a miserable day.
Instead I chose to go alone and
still find enjoyment.
I was rewarded most wonderfully.
__________________________

Because of this experience,
I understood when a blind man I knew
expressed a desire to fly.
(he had been blinded in youth,
so did have a knowledge of vision)

Many others had blown off his desire..
maybe because it was so far to travel,
or involved their time and $ invested,
for something they saw as a useless need.
I really don't know their reasons.
I chose to grant him his wish.

We drove 100 miles to a place that
gave helicopter rides.
(back then , prices were cheap)
This day proved to be beyond scope
in my list of fun days.
The Helicopter had a bench seat for 3.
The *window* extended
almost to the floor it seemed.

There is nothing to compare
to helicopter riding
We flew out over the ocean
and I felt as if like a bird
nothing but sky between the air and sea and me.
I described the beauty of it all
as best I could to my blind friend,
(who spent the entire ride
grinning from ear to ear).

Afterwards, He thanked me
many times,
for taking the time with him,
to share the experience,
when so many others had *pooh-poohed*
the idea when he asked them to help
fulfil his desire.
I assured him that in fact
it was I who should be thanking him.
I never would have sought out
a helicopter ride if he had not expressed
his personal desire to experience it.
His desire became my delight!

Who knew?
Don't negate others needs for
adventure and fun,
based on your perspective
of their limitations.
You just might miss out
on some of the best times,
that you can put in your *mental scrapebook *
of memories of good times.

Love to you all.
Thanks for reading.

Ami Joi Benton







 

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