Plane Easy

Well, I've haven't been biking in the past week but I have been doing some more flying. A co-worker's son (Taylor) is in a circus "summer camp" (http://www.circussmirkus.org/) which performs all over New England and today we flew up to the see the show at the big top in Montpelier, VT. It would have been a pretty long drive from my home, or for my friend who was vacationing on Paradox Lake. Instead I flew up to the Adirondacks (about 35 minutes) picked up Robert and his younger son Keenan, and flew to Montpelier (25 minutes).

The performers do some things that look very dangerous (well - they *are* dangerous). Besides the clowning and juggling they do wire walking acts and they hang from ropes and trapeze bars. Only one act used a safety wire - when two girls did a trapeze act very high in the tent. I couldn't help but think that activities like climbing a thirty foot pole, wrapping your legs around it and hanging off horizontally with your arms straight out must involve some risk (let alone being lifted up fifteen feet while just holding two ropes). I asked Robert about it later and he noted that the kids train in the early summer while wearing helmets and safety wires, then as they master the various skills the safety equipment comes off.

Occasionally Robert points out a performer and notes that this performer has been on David Letterman, or that performer has been on the Jay Leno show. One young man even competed in the reality show "Who wants to be a Superhero". For kids in the audience everything looks like it's done perfectly. However, as an adult you can see that things don't always go as planned but the performers recover without missing a beat, and they usually make it all look like it's part of the show.

(no wires)

The whole performance reminds me that life has it's ups and downs and you can sit in the audience feeling amazed by what people can achieve, or you can participate, try new things and be amazed at what you can do. Plus, when you're actively involved and things don't go as planned, no problem - just get up, dust yourself off and keep going!

On the way home we're taking off from Montpelier with Keenan (who is about 13 or 14 years old) in the pilot's seat (I'm a flight instructor so I'm OK flying from either seat). As we accelerate down the runway I put my hands in my lap and I ask him if he wants to fly - he could start with the takeoff - I point at the yoke and say all he has to do is grasp it and pull back gently. He looks at me and hesitates momentarily - and then just before I need to get on the controls he reaches out, pulls back, and gets us into the air!