Anticipation

This past weekend I was a spectator at the 2009 Labor Day Fly-in at Mingus Mountain, AZ. Hang gliders and para-sailers came together for their annual event. It was my second time attending.

I was surprised to find that all of the participants were men and almost all of them were over 40. There was one man that was 72 years old! This was amazing to me, since the weight of the hang glider is about 75 pounds and obviously took some strength for even the younger men to handle. For better or for worse, it wasn't a very windy day. So we ended up waiting for quite awhile for just the right breeze to come up for each jumper.

This is a photo of one of the jumpers waiting for that breeze. Every jumper had several buddies or helpers to help judge the right time to jump and to help keep everything lined up and in place. You could tell that some of the men were more anxious than others as they waited to make their jump.

Although I've jumped from an airplane myself, it isn't often that I feel that level of anticipation. But I often feel an expectancy. I guess I'm an optimist. Maybe it's called hope? In any case, I was a little jealous and wondered if I would be able to control a glider and/or land safely?

Heck, if that 72 year old guy could do it, I could....right? Right?