Wednesday, May 12, 2010

A Walk in the Clouds

In a recent article I read, there was an interesting post. "Some Native American tribes believed that the spirits they worshiped lived in the clouds of the sky. They even had explanations for the various types of clouds, rain, lightning, and thunder. When the spirits were pleased, it is said that the clouds would be few. Those that did show up would be fluffy white and often held positive messages for the people below living on earth."

Today, Don, Maui, Alex and I were interpreting the messages of the clouds! We were Cloudwalkers! I can't help but believe that there is a life force in the wind. Breezy and trade conditions reflect the mellow life force that benefits all of us on the ground (cools us, and brings light rain to water and nourish); harsher winds bring harsher conditions and ultimately destruction. Luckily, we chose the path of destruction avoidance! Today's flight was a series of walks in the white room, punctuated by brief moments of hysterics and long moments of joy! There were many times in today's flight when I was simply in awe of the scenery -- Cloudwalkers of old used the clouds to travel from one place to another. They used the clouds as transportation and passed meaning on to the lowly inhabitants of the ground based on an understanding provided by their lofty view. I don't know that we enlightened anyone (other than ourselves), but we did have folks come out to watch the spectacle.

I am simply grateful for the flight we had today. Doug called it the "Butter Run"! I would agree (once we had dug out from launch it was good -- launch was Kahanakuli). We had a great flight. My first to Pounders! My second in that state of awe that only Cloudwalking can bring! I look forward to more Cloudwalking; forward to more paragliding -- the sport that lets me, if just for a moment, hang with the wind spirits and Walk on the Clouds!

GPS: http://connect.garmin.com/player/33012964

Duck

4 comments:

JeffMc said...

Nice one, Duck!

MauiDoug said...

Duck, I'm glad you have a compass and GPS! You seemed to be whited out for most of the flight! You are a movie making machine, keep it up! Great story and video! Maybe your new name could be "Spielberg"
And thanks so much Ginger for the retrieval, I'm amazed your car could fit 4 pilots and bags. Much Aloha!

Alex said...

Fun video and interesting article, Duck. There's a very clear glory (brockenspecter) visible below you on a cloud at Kahana in the first scene or so. That was a sweet flight. Let's do it again soon. And as Doug said, we owe Ginger our thanks for the shuttle! The only thing I would add to your story is a mention of the time you spent coaching Kaaawa Larry through a half hour of ridge scratching around launch. And also Bonnie's late session! A great flying day all around. I heard it was nice at Makapuu too!

Anonymous said...

Maybe this one will post:
Awesome video Mr. Duck!! I was on the beach about 1/2 hr prior to the epic. Thanks for the coaching! "Get Larry to land so the lift will fill in". Good plan! Seriously, I appreciate your coaching and brotherhood. Maybe I'll be able to do the same for someone in the future. Sure hope so.
See y'all soon for some more great air time.
Kaaaawa Larry