Weekend recovery mode

After spending Saturday and Sunday at the Drop Zone jumping out of perfectly good airplanes (a total of six jumps, three each day) mostly with these two women, Ninja Linny on the left, and Christine on the right, I am pretty darn wiped out.

You might wonder why I called Linny "Ninja," but here's why. She's only five years younger than me in years, but the stamina this woman has would wear out most people, not just me. On Saturday she made seven jumps and packed her parachute in full sun, and made another five or so on Sunday. I'm not sure, because by the time I had made three, I went home, sore and tired, with my parachute unpacked. (I just got it packed up for next weekend.) Christine told me yesterday that she would not be jumping nearly as much as she is if it weren't for Linny. This amazing woman not only works two jobs, but she never shows up at the Drop Zone without homemade goodies, usually still warm from her oven. And then she organizes skydives and rallies the jumpers (I'm one of the happy recipients). She will jump with anyone, no matter the skill level, without even the tiniest bit of recriminations when things don't go as planned. She doesn't have a competitive bone in her body, she just goes like the Energizer Bunny while the rest of us run down around her.

Today I'm in recovery mode and figure I'm probably not cut out for two solid days of hiking and then two solid days of jumping in the same week! Tired does not adequately describe it. So it's taking it easy until Thursday when I'll be out with the Senior Trailblazers again.

On another note, I received the beautiful picture I got for making a donation to Ripple on Friday. I didn't have time to post it earlier, so I'll show you now. I went to the International Bird Rescue Center and made a $10 donation and sent Kelly at ripplesketches@verizon.net the information as required, but I heard nothing back from her. Sharon Wagner, the artist whose picture I wanted, thinks Kelly is probably overwhelmed by the response, so Sharon sent me the sketch and a sweet note to me:

I love the black sand dollar, as it suggests the tragedy in the Gulf without showing the oil-covered wildlife that are suffering and dying. Sharon is a children's illustrator and has a wonderful blog over at Sharon's Paws Create. Check out her lovely website for more.
:-)

Galactic eye

Luc Perrot, www.lucperrot.fr

Today I saw this incredible picture on the Astronomy Picture of the Day. It's a composite made of eight images from a fisheye lens put together to make what looks to me at first glance like a God's Eye. He took the pictures at night, illuminated with a lamp, and put them together to make a complete circle. In the middle is the Milky Way, and if you look closely you can also see his tent, a shoreline, and much more. He took this on the island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean. Click to enlarge to truly appreciate the image. APOD continues to amaze me, and I never miss a morning picture to give me a more accurate perspective of the world. Sometimes I get too focused on minutia when I need to look at the bigger picture.

Another wonderful thing from the blogging world that I discovered through Sharon's Paws Create is a website filled with donated art that goes to help the animals suffering from the Oil Disaster. Sharon has donated some beautiful art, and the other amazing donated art that is being sold will bring tears to your eyes, they are so poignant and beautiful. Go on over to Ripple to buy a beautiful piece of art for $10. Here's what they are about:

Each sketchcard on this blog $10. The $10 is a donation to help the animal victims of the Deep Water Horizon Gulf Oil Spill. Every penny is donated. The two nonprofits that are benefitting are The Institute for Marine Mammal Studies and The International Bird Rescue Research Center. You can purchase a card if you donate directly to one of the nonprofit and email me the confirmation and your address to ripplesketches@verizon.net. The artist will mail you the signed card.

The creator of the blog also adds, "We don't have to feel helpless. We can help. Our small actions together will ripple outward."
:-)