Sunday, April 20, 2008

Out of the Blue

I got up this morning about 5:30 a.m. The day started off drizzly and rainy. It cleared about midmorning and turned out to be a wonderful day to spend out of doors. Since we were off to a late start, and DD had used the car with the beach driving pass, DH and I went to the closest beach for my Sunday morning walk (instead of our usual Sunday place which is further away).

Afterwards we drove by a car dealership to look at new cars. It has been 32 years since I have had a brand new car. I have to confess I am a little excited by the prospect. On the other hand, it has been 29 years since I have had a car payment. That prospect is not so hot. However, when you consider the services included in the lease payments and the improved gas mileage, we think making lease payments will be worth it.

After that, we drove to Deland in search of a restaurant someone told DH had great hamburgers. We found the restaurant, but were unimpressed with the clientele, and I was very turned off by the rude waitress. [It never ceases to amaze me how rude service people are in this tourist area!] What is more, they only served bottled beer. DH and I are draft beer snobs.

We bailed on that joint and went to a nearby sky-diving place. Over burgers and draft beer, we watched dozens and dozens of divers descend literally out of the blue. Some landed fast, some drifted down ever so slowly and gracefully. Most of the divers today appeared to be very experienced. They all landed very near the target zone and most of them landed on their feet. We have been there when divers veered far off course and we have seen some pretty hard landings. [Fortunately, we have never witnessed a serious accident. I am grateful for that. They have a fatality or two a year. I would rather not watch someone die while I am munching a burger...]

Today we watched a lady whose dive was apparently a birthday present. She looked to be perhaps 65 or 70. Her entire family, children and a bunch of grand children were there to watch, wave and cheer. The birthday girl seemed a bit woozy for a while after she landed. She seemed to perk up after while, but at first she seemed not too happy with the experience.

I have to give her a lot of credit for trying it in the first place. You wouldn't catch me jumping out of a plane at any age!

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