| Windseer Danielle Marie
Ch. I Mokki liked to feel
the wind blowing. He knows there is more wind up high. When he could
walk he
could climb. Up thin trees so that he could feel the wind and the tree
swaying.
When he saw his parents down below hurrying towards the tree with a
ladder, he
would scurry down. And there were the roofs of the houses in the
neighborhood.
He would climb when he found pipes or structural features that would
give him a
foothold. It was not an uncommon sight in his early growing years to
see the
local fire truck with ladder up to a roof so that the fireman could
bring Mokki
back down. As Mokki grew
up he
learned not to climb trees and go up on roofs. Much to the relief of
family and
Fire Department he quickly took to the hiking trails in the local
mountains.
These would take him to much higher places. Through the years of
Elementary School
and Junior High Mokki hiked. He did not limit himself to the
established
trails. He followed deer trails and the remnants of foot paths formed
by
ancient peoples, He was especially fond of the edge of cliffs where the
air
rushed up from the valley floor below. Some of the older
guys at school brag about leaning over in the wind there and how it
keeps you
from falling into the canyon below. Mokki had to try that. _
_ _ No it doesn’t!
Or it does only
until it doesn’t. So yes I tried it and it was fun leaning over feeling
the
wind holding me up. The wind stopped for a moment though and I fell and
would
have gone all the way down except I flipped around in time to catch my
arms and
elbows on the edge, my chest then chin hit the dirt as I fell, body and
feet
hanging down. Then it was only with the greatest of luck and fear that
I pulled
my right leg up sideways, found an outcropping of boulder, and kicked
up, just
as a strong gust of wind came back, helped me hook my ankle and foot
over the top
edge and pulled up, as the wind pushed me, and turned myself over and
ended up
on my back with a very sore chin and chest, Do not try this! Ever! A
lesson.
Take not the wind for granted. And don’t believe what the older guys at
school
tell you! So now I am a
Sophomore and its
more of ‘what careers are you interested in?’ They mean work. Even when
younger
little boys are asked what do you want to be. When they think about
this they
try to think of the jobs that are the easiest. Politicians, teachers,
sports
people on TV, anyone who just talks. That looks easy. Better than
carrying
heavy stuff around. Some think I might be interested in aviation,
airplanes. Because I like heights
probably. I went up in a plane with a youth group once, an older cargo
plane. I
was allowed to take the controls, my feet on pedals which make the
plane turn
right or left. My hand on the control wheel that made the plane go up
or down. That was some
fun I admit, but
not quite ’out in the air’ enough for me. It was like being safely in a
car
that flew in the sky. I think a glider that floats on the wind, and is
powered
by the wind would be more fun. But that is not a way to make a living.
But
gliding would be a great recreation. I think an even better one would
be hang
gliding. You are out in the wind. I have not tried that yet. An age
limit when
you can start, I go to the mountains to the Pad where the hang gliders
take
off. I spent hours watching them prepare and take off into the wind. There is a practice
field there
maybe as wide and half again as long as a football field. It is
slightly
downhill. Fortunately the area rises for about another half a field
until the
edge of the mountain, where there is a wood safety fence maybe ten feet
tall at
the edge. The hang glider pilots practice in the early morning taking
runs down
that field. They get some elevation and then walk back to the beginning
and
wait their turn to practice again. After
they are sure they have their technique right, they go wait for their
turn at
the Pad to fly off the mountain. Some hang
glider people leave
their hang gliders up there in the mountains. That makes sense, not
having to
tow them up and down every time. There are a few gliders that are
abandoned
there. After a while some have for sale signs on them. When I get back down
into town
I would go over to a large park directly below the mountain. There you
can
watch the hang gliders appear in the sky and come down, slowly, getting
larger
until they finally land safely in the park. The guys land running on
the grass until
the glider has no more wind. I will do hang
gliding there
someday but for now I found out I can go to the beach where there are
some
bluffs with wind coming in from the ocean. There are people with hang
gliders
there so you can take lessons. I have started. They don’t ask my age.
And I am
doing well, several times gliding down to the water’s edge. Also I have
read
all I can find in the Library on hang gliding techniques so that I am
ready
when I finish high school at Harris Prep. So I still have to
have a
career. I am going to wait until I get to college and stumble onto
something I
want to do, or maybe don’t really want to do. I think this is how most
adults find
their careers. So I am not going to worry about that yet, or probably
ever. Though I don’t
want to be a
pilot I like the badges they wear. I like the wings design. I walk past
a
military surplus sort of junk store and they have a window display of
insignia
and badges on a flat surface. I noticed one set of wings of an
off-white, cream
color, with a shield in the center that was the same solid color. The
wings
were a little larger than others I have seen. The next time I went
by the
store I thought the wings were gone, but saw them in in a different
place in
the display. After several more times, and the wings always in a
different
place, I decided to go in the store and ask about them. “Oh I know the
ones you mean,”
the store owner said. He walked over to the display. He put on a thick
leather
glove to pick up the wings. “I got this in a collection of military
insignia in
a box found at that old Harris Mansion up on the hill that got took
down. It
isn’t from any military I can identify. I will let you look at it while
I hold
it up but don’t want you to touch it.” “Why?” I asked.
“I don’t want to get
sued. They
are just like the other wings I have but every time I show them to a
customer,
they seem to stick themselves with the sharp fastener on the back. No
matter
how I warn them. Then they drop it down back on the display and leave.
Said
they would sue. Haven’t yet.” “So that’s why
it’s in a
different place every time I see it.”
“I have seen you at
the
window” He placed the wings back down
the display. “I’m about to throw them away. If you can pick them up and
fasten
without sticking yourself they’re yours’s free.” I
happily walked out of the store with the
wings fastened to the left pocket of my heavy beige hiking shirt. I
don’t know how
anyone could stick themselves. It was a pin that went through the shirt
and
fastened with a clasp. Like any other. I feel a spring in my step,
proud of my
new acquisition. I never got anything new that gave me such a boost in
energy
and confidence. As the end of my
Sophomore year
came I don’t think I ever went without my wings fastened on my shirt. I
seemed
to have an easier time with school and more confidence with my
schoolmates. I
continued lessons hang gliding at the beach and had a perfect flight
every try.
The instructors are amazed and tell me that when I am of age I will
have little
trouble on the full descent. As the school year came to an end and
Summer came,
I thought of those hang gliders up there in the mountains that were
waiting
unused. _
_ _ Mokki was up just at
sunrise of
that Summer morning. A cool soft breeze comes through the window. Heavy shirt, wings of course , jeans, boots.
Helmet with visor. Sunglasses. A small backpack, snacks, lunch. Light
gloves,
military web belt with canteen. He will just practice on the practice
field. ‘Borrow’ one of the for-sale
gliders. No, he would
not go near the mountain take off field,
called the Pad. Several of the
regulars are at
the practice field just after sunrise. One has his glider on a trailer,
the
other two keep their gliders up there on the mountain. As they chat
getting
their gliders ready for their practice runs, they notice a young man, a
kid,
really, starting a practice run on the field. He has one of the
abandoned
gliders, one of the guys says he is glad it is getting some use. Another says he remembers the kid from the
learning bluffs down at the ocean. That he is pretty good there anyway.
Another says that he
has been
coming up here for several weeks. The people at the Pad don’t mind that
he uses
the abandoned gliders because he puts them back every time. One agrees
OK so
far as he doesn’t take the glider anywhere near the Pad. The young man
walks
back by them and nods. They note that he is professionally dressed. A
heavy
shirt, jeans, and boots. A helmet with visor, and sunglasses. The guys
are
amused by the wings emblem. They watch as Mokki starts his next run. It
looks
like he should get good practice elevation. Just then there is an
unusual gust
of wind from behind him. This increases
the glider’s
speed and Mokki’s feet just touch the
ground. And right after another strong gust comes from the front,
quickly
lifting the glider. The wind blows the hats off the guys watching. As they run after their hats the see the
glider gaining attitude, the wind gusts alternating from behind to from
the
front. They look at each other in panic and run across the field trying
to
catch the glider before it gets too high. The fastest one jumps and
just misses
catching an ankle of the young man as his glider takes off. As Mokki
nears the
edge of the field he tries to lower the glider to hook his foot on the
fence at
the edge, the boot’s sole just scraped the top. Full
story on Amazon,
paperback or e-book.
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