book flying

I've spent the last two days working my ass off.  The foodservice business gets hectic around the holidays.  After the family dinner tomorrow, I'm going to work to start cooking for a group on Friday..sounds like a bitch but in all honesty it's not at all.  I view food preparation & presentation as a form art, so for me it is an extension of my photography or what ever other outlet of expression I'm seeking/using at the current time.

Speaking of photograpy, I've a chance to go to the SEC championship game in Atlanta next weekend!  As a rule I'm not much of a sports fan; the things that I consider sports fall into the hang gliding, caving, outdoors categories, but as a lover of photographic expression I can't deny that there is opportunity to capture some incredible images at a sporting event such as a football game.  That, I must admit, excites me!  Some of the images of players at critical moments in a game can not only be inspiring, but truly beautiful...I do hope I'm able to capture some of the raw beauty of that type of emotion!  We shall see.

Now, on to the book flying.  Over the last few days I've been reading  Hang Gliding For Beginner Pilots and Understanding the Sky.  The former deals with all the basics of learning to fly hang gliders~everything from ground handling and proper launch technique to landing and flare timing.  There is so much more than that included in the book- I shall not waste many words deconstructing it, but I will say this: if you want to learn to fly hang gliders start with proper instruction and READ THIS BOOK!  The latter deals with a subject that is near and dear to any person that uses the atmosphere to gain altitude by means of engineless flight: meteorology.   I think this book give enough information that after a bit of close reading and note taking the average joe would be able to go outside, look at the sky and pretty much give an accurate analysis of atmospheric conditions from just a glance.  For me I got to experience the zen of seeing cumulus clouds at all different stages of life-from birth to death.  Indeed this ball of dirt is surrounded by a vast ocean of beauty, both serene and terrible...tis called the sky.