It was time to go off to the drop zone once again for me and my girlfriend.  She had chosen to only do tandem jumps due to the fact that she has epilepsy, which is not extreme; however, she does blank out from time to time.  She calls them blanks where she just stares off into space for a bit and she loses time for a little while.  The seizures do not happen very often, but in circumstances such as skydiving where a few seconds lost could mean the difference in survival or extreme injury it is really the best choice.  She has never had a blank while she was skydiving, but it does not make sense to take unnecessary risks.  It is somewhat unfortunate in that she will not independently skydive as I know that she wants to jump on her own, but she is really making the right choice given the circumstances.  Unfortunately, this drives up the cost of the two of us enjoying the experience together.  She learns as much as she can about the sport and is wonderfully supportive.  Perhaps one day I will become certified to tandem jump, which is one of the goals, so we can jump together.

There is a wonderful bonding experience that is generated by jumping with others.  You do not even have to really know them very well.  By the sheer fact that you are experiencing nature in such a wonderful way and sharing that time with others is really great.  I have found somewhat of an unspoken mutual respect for fellow skydivers that is unseen in the normal course of mundane life.  I highly recommend going skydiving with friends and family.  If you do not have friends or family then go skydiving and you will find something new.

This day my girlfriend chose not to jump watched from the ground.  The sky was blue and it was great to get out of the Arizona heat.  The temperature drops about three degrees per thousand feet of altitude so we would go from mid-summer heat to weather like at the beach.  It is a great way to get out of the heat for at least a little while.  When we jumped the instructor thought I was a bit unstable like a teeter-totter when in actuality I was intentionally doing the wave with my body a few times.  I have no idea why but it was something new to try.  The shoot opened without any problem however when I started to descend the shoot was collapsing upon itself when I would attempt to turn and the lines would become twisted.  The shoot was rigged for someone with a little shorter arm length so when I would pull the drive lines they would become over pulled causing the shoot to buckle and steer rather poorly.  It was a bit of a reality check as it is easy to get caught up in the adrenaline and endorphin rush of the experience.

I was able to steer down just fine but was not thinking well enough not to pull the lines down so low when turning, which made the decent a bit of an unpleasant experience.  It was more of a nuisance than anything else.  I landed a bit hard as a result because when I flared, I over pulled the lines again causing part of the canopy to buckle again.  It was all good and was a fantastic day of learning.  My girlfriend on the ground found it difficult to watch that day as she could see the shoot buckling when I was in the air.  It was not the sort of thing that required me to cut away but I can understand and appreciate her concern.  I could not wait to jump again.