My 2012

In looking ahead to the new year, I've also been looking back a little. I was thinking about all the things I did for the first time (or first time in a very long time) in 2012. Let's be honest, most of them are pretty insignificant, but that's okay.

Firsts in 2012:
  • Ran a mile (for the first time in over 10 years!) 
  • Drove most of the way across the country (towing a trailer)
  • Ate an oyster (raw!)
  • Had a helicopter flying lesson
That last one was on New Year's Eve and I am still pretty excited about it. As part of family Christmas, my sister-in-law offered all the family members a very brief flying lesson in a Robinson R22 - a very small helicopter. I was a little nervous but I know that she is very experienced and very safe. We had ground school and then I (in my geekiness) read more about the history of helicopter development and the controls. 

Helicopter flight
Taking off - hovering is the hardest part
Helicopter flight
Off we go!
Helicopter flight
Coming in for a landing
I got to control the cyclic and the collective - two of the four controls on the helicopter - and fly about half of the mini-lesson without too much correction from my sister-in-law! Because this helicopter is so lightweight (800lbs without fuel or people), every little gust of wind moves it around. The controls are also very sensitive and require a light touch and constant small corrections. I definitely had to concentrate hard to keep all the dials where they were supposed to be. 

I may have jumped up and down when I was done. It was that cool. (I may also have been advised to try some flying lessons!)

I am leery of posting 'resolutions' for 2013. I think people go a little overboard. I think like most people, I am focusing a little bit about my health - but that's not interesting to write about so enough there. I'd also like to remind myself to say yes to more things. Saying yes is how you get to do cool stuff like fly a helicopter, take a road trip, and eat oysters!

Comments

Tim said…
Pro tip: step out from under the propeller before jumping up and down. ;) Sounds like fun, awesome stuff!
11:56 AM
Sarah said…
OMG THAT IS TERRIFYING.
11:26 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Introducing Escargot

Image
Escargot It was June 2010 and Kel, Danielle, and I were flying down the highway coming back to Alexandria from TNNA (the yarn industry trade show) in Columbus, Ohio. Danielle may or may not have been pushing the speed limit just a smidgen, and Kel may or may not have been clinging to the Mini's door in abject terror. There was a lot of chatter and planning, interspersed with laughter and highway-induced exasperation. I was taking notes as we planned the next year in yarn for fibre space ... and I was doodling. One of the doodles turned into the Hatskarfenmitten . The other doodle became Escargot . But it took a while. Things changed and we moved to California, but I couldn't get the idea of a funky, asymmetrical, spiral-enhanced cloche out of my head. This summer, I bumped into Amy Singer, the editor of Knitty , at a couple of yarn festivals, and told her I had a really cool hat idea. She said, "send it in." Pretending we are waiting for the train. With r...
Read more

"Knitting is a stupid hobby"

"Knitting is a stupid hobby." Those few words, spoken by the other member of my household, nearly drove me to inarticulate rage last night. We had sat down to dinner - enchiladas, if you want to know - and I was in the midst of talking about the new 25th Anniversary Vogue Knitting magazine. I had wanted to share it, show how it was put together, and figured we could have a laugh at the preponderance of advertising and bizarre design that filled its pages. Alas, this was not to be so. Not only was I interrupted with a complete non sequitur on his part, showing me a different magazine from another genre (hello, can you sit down and listen for a minute? you're not the only one here with interests or opinions), but the reaction I got was totally unexpected. I was shaking my head at the latest Maie Landra-Koigu design (a suit set with short tuxedo pants, modular construction to the tune of 55 skeins of KPPPM and sequins, sequins for crying out loud), hoping to get some a...
Read more

Unraveling

Tonight, I sat down to knit on a sock - it doesn't matter which one - only to discover that several inches back, I'd made a mistake serious enough to warrant ripping it out. I like my pairs of socks to match one another as precisely as possible, so out it went. Two steps forward, one step back, and suddenly I'm in a place where I can start moving forward again, more perfectly. That is kind of how life is these days, both with knitting and, well, life. I think I've gotten myself somewhere only to stop, take a step back, and start again. Things aren't working out and I'm moving. In two weeks I'll be in another city, with other people. Closer to my family, closer to old friends for the holidays - but back to bad weather and, inevitably, unemployment. It's a gamble, but how can I not make the choice for happiness? For [astronomically] lower rent? For getting to see my parents and everyone else at Christmas? So I'm packing. Chicago or bust!
Read more