the dardanelles

No cross-country flight today. Too windy–20 mph gusting to 35. The maximum crosswind capability of the airplane is about 18 mph, so getting it back down on the ground would have been dicey. Jeff (who hadn’t flown in about a year) and Mr. Kelly flew while I had the night flight briefing in the trailer and Mr. Kelly, who landed the plane, said he wondered whether he had enough rudder to keep the plane straight ’til touchdown. Jeff said they practiced slow flight into the wind and were essentially hovering over one spot on the ground. That’s a stiff wind. Visibility was great, though–the catch-22 of weather. It seems like it’s either cloudy and calm, or windy and clear. Oh well. Hoping for the XC on Friday. I was keyed-up to go today, too: Had the flight all planned and was ready to use my VFR kneeboard.

Another free lunch today. I’m averaging about one a week. Karl, Mike, Bret and I had Mexican. Karl ordered some kind of shrimp kabob dish with guacamole and black beans; it actually looked appetizing. Upon eating the beans, though, he found they tasted very much like diesel fuel. A taste by Mike, Bret and I confirmed this. He beckoned the manager over and got his order renewed–evidently someone had painted the inside of the cooler in the kitchen (?) and somehow a vestige of the paint had made its way into the black beans. Ugh. But the order was corrected, marked down by half, and we all got free ice cream tacos, which were scrumptious. Karl generously paid for everyone. I had a small dinner this evening, though–I was about to pop all afternoon after my lunch burrito, the ice cream taco and ingesting approximately one metric ton of chips and salsa whilst waiting for the order.

Coffee Theology group tonight was fantastic. For those who don’t know, it’s a subgroup of the Bible study that meets on a biweekly basis and talks about practical issues relating to our walk as believers. It’s based on a concept originated by this church in Raleigh (click on “Upcoming Events” and scroll down to “Theology on Tap”), which I was involved in and enjoyed immensely. No jargon, no “Christianese,” just authenticity (as least that’s what I’m hoping for). In past meetings we’ve discussed politics, culture, movies, music and so on. Tonight’s theme was relationships, primarily of the male-female variety. I print out mini-handouts with discussion-starting questions, everybody orders coffee and we go from there. Tonight there were seven of us, a record, and discussion was lively as the theme is something everyone has experience with and opinions about. It’s not where I want it to be, and I know the original model I’m drawing from (the church in Raleigh) isn’t going to work here, just because the people are different. But I want to adapt it to the group as best I can, and besides it’s not up to me to force anything. Tonight was certainly encouraging.