Tuesday, June 4, 2013

A fine beginning to the week

Pedro (top, 3rd from left) with La Hacienda Family Restaurant staff
When I got to the Drop Zone in Snohomish on Sunday, the clouds were beginning to break up, but it still was not clear enough to skydive. Remember we can't jump through clouds. While waiting, I visited with these wonderful people who were all getting ready to make their first skydives ever. But what was even more impressive is Pedro was not only making his first skydive but also his very first airplane ride! He was going to get his feet off the ground for the first time AND jump out of the plane as well! I don't know how his skydive went, or what any of them thought of it, since they were just landing as I was going up with my own buddies. By the time I got back down, they had left. Peter had given me a keychain from his own restaurant in Renton and told me that although they don't have their own website, the one in Everett does, so I linked it under the picture. They were all so excited and I was just a bit sorry I didn't get to hear all about their experience.
Christy, birthday boy Kevin, and Linnie
I made two skydives on Sunday before heading home around 4:00pm, worried about the trip north with the I-5 bridge out. It was Kevin's birthday, the first time he's been able to make a jump on the exact day in years, so I was happy to have been on a jump with him. And of course Christy and Linnie are some of the best people in the world to play with. They stayed and probably made another three skydives after I left.

It was a good thing I left when I did, because the traffic around the bridge detour was horrendous. Next time I will try the alternate route. Sunday afternoon all the Canadians are heading home after being south of the border, and the short route (the one I took) had all the trucks on it as well. It added more than an extra half hour to the drive, making it more than two hours to get back to Bellingham. Going south at 10:00am was a breeze, only a few minutes longer than usual.
Bee busily buzzing the borage
This morning I went out to check my garden and water it, since the forecast shows no rain for the next week or so. Very nice to see such a forecast, and the bees were buzzing all around the flowers on the borage plant. You can see one in this picture if you enlarge and look in the bottom foreground. I'll try to get a better picture next time (he's not quite in focus). Several of the blue flowers have already fallen off the plant. I hope it's healthy; I gave it plenty of water and some Miracle-Gro.
From Wunderground
Although it says there is a 20% chance of rain on Friday, I am working on willing it to stay sunny. It says today will be partly cloudy, but there's not a cloud in the sky! All of us Pacific Northwesterners are ready to join the summer season. Some people say that summer doesn't start around here until July 5th, but I've been pleasantly surprised before.

I finished Jodi Picoult's latest book and started Eben Alexander's book Proof of Heaven today.  I had to tear myself away just to get this blog post written, it's extremely absorbing. It's interesting that I had six books on hold at the library for the past two months, and four of them came into the library all at once! I can't renew them, so I'll be sitting around with my nose in a book for the rest of this week, it seems. I would say when it rains... but I'm not even going to THINK rain for a while.
:-)

23 comments:

  1. I'm glad you got some jumping in. Too bad the group didn't stick around - it would have be fun to hear about how they enjoyed it. The upcoming weather looks wonderful. But darn those Canadians for creating such a traffic slowdown. ;)

    Jodi Picoult.. I find her hit and miss. I have enjoyed a few of her works but find a repetitive theme through many others. I might have to look into this one though. :)

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  2. Glad the clouds cleared for you. Love the flowers on the borage plant. Always good to see the bees buzzing around.

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  3. Hard to imagine jumping out of the first plane one gets into! It's great that you meet such interesting people, and I'm sure they love meeting you and hearing of your lasting love of the sport.

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  4. Great blog post! So excited to read that you were able to jump on Sunday...and that you are home with a good book...books! :))
    Love the alliteration under the photo of the borage. Clever girl, you are...
    Sending you big hugs,
    Jackie

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  5. DJan, most of the things you do are so 'active' that I imagine having your nose in a book for a while counter-balances it all. (I don't imagine you ever read while you're jumping?)

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  6. glad you got some jumps in! even better, glad you've got some sunshine in the forecast!

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  7. have yet to read the new picoult...it is good? wow i am impressed with the first flight/first jump....that is double jitters...smiles...and glad your friend got to jump on his birthday...very cool...

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  8. So glad you got to jump!
    It reached 79 here today. I walked this morning and spent some time sitting in the sun reading this afternoon, after lunch on the patio. I love being able to do that.
    I just finished "The Bartender's Tale" by Ivan Doig. It was very good.
    I'm working on a list of "Best Books of 2012" from the Seattle Times. So far, so good! But I would never get four books read in three weeks! Happy reading.

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  9. I'm glad your jump was good. Sounds like the week is going just as it should.

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  10. Oh my, how are you going to squeeze in all those books among all your other activities? That's why I use the library very little. Can't stand the pressure.

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  11. Here's another good book for you, DJan: Flipside: A Tourist's Guide to the Afterlife.

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  12. You're in with a very enthusiastic crowd. This makes for lots of excitement.

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  13. A better than fine beginning to the week. I am really sorry that you didn't find out about Pedro's double first - but hope he is as hooked on the highs (pun intended) as you.
    I love your borage and am impressed at the bee photo. I find them tricky little Bs to capture. They move too fast, and don't use indicators.

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  14. Too bad the group didn't hang around. It would be interesting to hear what Pedro thought about his first plane ride and jump. It looks like you have a nice week of weather ahead, we do too but we will add about twenty degrees to your temps.

    The little bee will be joined by lots of friends soon. Enjoy your books.

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  15. You had a good time with your friends! The Traffic sounds horrid..I am not sure I would like that. We don't have traffic like you..in the 14 miles to work I bet I don't see over 30 cars.. I will count for a few mornings. It will make the drive less boring.
    Your borage will probably drop a few of its flowers everyday..it would be a natural thing to happen, flowers get old after they have been pollinated..a job which your bee seems to be handling quite nicely.
    Always a please to read what you write! :)

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  16. Wow! That's incredible that it would be his first time off the ground and then jumping to it. Sheesh!

    Good grief! You make more than one sky dive in a day? It just boggles my mind. You lead such an exciting life, DJan! Sorry about all that traffic. You can come to Oahu now and feel right at home.

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  17. Well, you meet some fascinating folks! Thanks for the book alert- I'll order it.

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  18. How wonderful to meet Newbies flying and jumping for the first time. I am sure if everything went well, he will long remember this first flight and jump. Great photo of your new jumpers and I bet you will be spoiled in their restaurant. You must go DJan and give us yet another nice DJan post. You know, we have more honey bees around now than we did last summer and they are happily working away at everything coming up in my gardens. I shall try n remember to send you one of my busy bee photos. Lovely inspiring post filled great smiles and refrences - just a plain ole good day :)

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  19. Yes, Alexander's book is absorbing. I am glad you are reading it. You are so busy with your active lifestyle.

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  20. So glad you got some jumps in especially after the bad week you had just gone through.
    I would think if I were a young virgin jumper like Pedro, it would give me confidence to talk to seasoned jumpers like yourself.

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  21. I've wondered how long it takes to pack a parachute since you seem to be able to take several jumps in the same day. It must take a lot of courage to jump out of a plane.

    I hope they are able to fix the bridge soon, but it sounds like it will be a long time project.

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  22. I love to read at a regular stately pace.... then some thing happens and you've got a stack of wanna reads and not enough time to do it before they're due.

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  23. It would have been fun to hear about their first jumps. Maybe you'll run into them again. :)

    Have fun lost in the pages of all those books. Enjoy your sunshine, too! I think we have your rain over here--LOL! ;)

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