Getting Back

The phases of a cross country paragliding flight include planning and approach, flying and getting back. Whenever I talk about cross country flying with non-pilots, the inevitable question is "How do you get back?" This always makes me smile inside, and sometimes even on the outside.

I'm afraid I've not yet managed to get to Jeff K.'s lofty level on this subject. "Rig's on launch, keys on the dash, doors are open. Launching." That about sums it up. Seems he and his hang glider pretty much manage to get home, every darn time. Then again, Jeff's theory of cross country flying goes something like this; "After launch turn in lift, make circles until the top of the lift, then go down wind and repeat." Seems this works well for him, as he most often gets high and goes far. With mastery comes simplicity.

For the rest of us, "How do you get back?" remains a valid question. Walking works okay for relatively short distances, but once one gets to double digits in either miles or kilometers this can be a bit of a serious penance to pay for our jolly little flutter about the countryside this fine afternoon thank you very much. Then again a nice walkabout with the ol' knapsack is a pleasant way to spend time. Those who meditate have written about "walking meditation," and those who have hauled their kit for a few miles know of this. The not insignificant effort to keep up the struggle against gravity long after soaring flight has ceased does tend to quiet the internal dialogue, though I've not found it particularly transcendental. Does offer plenty of time for introspection and genuinely helps reinforce one's next effort to find and work that next little speck of lift someday.

At some point motorized travel is a welcome respite if not a lifesaving necessity. With luck, you've gone out flying with a bunch of pilots and rigs and buddies, or you've got a driver on the way with your SPOT coordinates to pick you up. If not, you are going to have to wrangle yourself a ride. Wives who will answer your cell phone call when they know you are out flying are a blessing and not quite as rare as wives who will drive for you when you fly. With a little luck you are not much further away then the grocery store, and with some pleading and cajoling and perhaps a concession or two to sweeten the pot you might get a ride. I've heard that girlfriends are a better shot for a retrieve than wives, but it has been nearly three decades since I've had one, and, I've only been flying for fifteen years, so, couldn't say. A couple of driving age or older sons who will at least respond via text also can be quite useful, but, as they are either in school, with friends, or otherwise so very busy, maybe even (hope never dies) working, they only infrequently seem to be available to come provide retrieve. If you fly for enough years, such sons inevitably grow up, get married and move away. They might still text back, but chances of a ride drop significantly. I would guess that daughters are similar. If you have any friends who are not out flying themselves maybe they'll come pick you up, but, I guarantee you if you play this particular card too many times their phone numbers start to yield messages. They seem to get back to you well after dark and are genuinely relieved to find you safely back to wherever you might be.

Ah yes, there is hitchhiking. With the superfluity of sadistic mass murderers, serial rapists, and other less than stellar personalities out there this venerable form of transportation has fallen upon hard times here in "The States." Still, many pilots are experts at it. I've been told that anybody who pulls over to watch your landing is a prime potential for a ride. New local pilot Doug H., recently from Hawaii, can get a ride almost faster than he can pack up. And that fellow can pack up faster than I can believe. Launches in no time too. Perhaps that is why the average paraglider pilot looks a lot more like a boyscout than like a wacko biker from hell, it helps the nice lady in the mini-van come to grips with slowing down and considering helping you out.

Which brings us to the crux of "Getting Back." In order to get back, you have to ask for help. This is difficult at first for those of us raised up on John Wayne movies but hopefully less so if one was weaned on Alan Alda. Mr. Rogers' neighborhood can be yours if you will get right with the universe and let it happen. If you are more an Oprah person, then this should be a delightful picnic for you. If Dr. Phil is your man, well, sorry, can't really stomach the fellow-but, I'd probably give him a ride if I saw him needing one. The more I learn to ask for help getting back, the more I find myself looking to pay it forward by being more helpful, and the less bothered I am by being taken advantage of--after all, it is a way of being helpful I guess.

The more I practice being helpful the happier I am! I'm still not particularly gregariously, touchy-feely come to meeting lets do lunch and paint each other's nails about the whole thing, but I do like to wander around and take pictures of flowers while I'm trying to decide when to launch...

There is also the element of learning to be comfortable with a degree of uncertainty. Modern American culture seems to feel that there is always a cause and effect, always a reason, a logical conclusion or result, flick the switch and the light goes on. As foot launched pilots we learn that this is not always so cut and dried, the relationships are more convoluted and complex. Sometimes you eat the bear, sometimes the bear eats you. Sometimes nobody gets dinner, or you walk through the night. It is, like life, an adventure for heaven's sake! Do you really want it to be so carefully scripted? If there was always a thermal exactly where you wanted one would flying a paraglider be such a cool thing?

Maybe you come around
the corner and see pretty
flowers. Maybe you almost step on little brother rattlesnake. Maybe you should be totally aware and a part of everything that is going on so as not to miss even one tiny exciting moment of this wondrous experience! Little brother spent a few unpleasant moments in a coffee cup before he was let back out to terrorize the stink bugs in the neighborhood. We hope he remembers us fondly when we meet him as a full grown Western Diamondback!

In the end, getting back requires that you refuse to accept a cold isolating universe where you are an entity apart and alone, and find yourself instead in a warmer more connected world where you can give and receive help to and from your fellow human beings as part of something greater.

The Lakota Sioux spiritual tradition teaches that "We are all related."

So, the next time you are starting to wonder how you are going to get back, put on your "Paraglider Pilot needs ride" tee-shirt, smile and start walking in the right direction!