Thursday July 24th

Happy Pioneer Day!  This morning we did the usual parade watching, and the kids came home with tons of candy. But then in the afternoon, the Captain wanted to go fly with his friends.  See, here's the story.  The Captain's friend is way into paragliding.  Every year on Pioneer Day he invites all his paraglider buddies to come and fly with him.  We really do have some great flying sites around here.  He usually gets at least a dozen to show up.

The Captain was off flying with this group this morning, so we had to take a small car to the parade.  It was crowded, to say the least.  I was figuring it would be the same in the evening, since the Captain would have the van again to take pilots up the mountain for the evening flight.  But the Captain was such a sweetheart, and he told the other pilots that he couldn't

drive because his family needed the van.  Awww, so thoughtful!  Then he went to an afternoon theatrical production with me, and missed getting a ride with someone else.  So, being the sweet wife that I am (at least once a year), I offered to drive him up.  Now, driving up to this particular launch site is not the smoothest drive in the world.  A high clearance vehicle is mandatory, and nerves of steel are helpful.  The Captain drove up the mountain, and found all his paragliding friends.  He was good, then, to either fly down or catch a ride, so I turned around and headed for home.

I've driven down that mountain before, so I wasn't too worried about it, but I kept getting distracted by the views.  It was just so cool to be up so high! 
So I got out a few times to take pictures. 
I had already decided that if I made it down the hill alive, that would probably be today's evidence of God's hand in my life, so I took a couple of pictures of the crazy road. 
As I got out to take this picture... 

I went to step out of the van, and realized it was rolling.  Scariest moment ever!  I wasn't all the way out yet, so I managed to get myself back in the seat and hit the brakes before it rolled too far.  Whew!  Then I realized that because I had been going down the mountain in Second, instead of just Drive, I hadn't moved the gear shift quite enough clicks to get it all the way to Park.  I had moved it the same number of clicks that I usually do, but this time that wasn't enough, and it only got me to Reverse before I tried to step out of the van.  I realize that even more than the Lord's hand, this post reveals the absence of clear thinking on my part.  It's true.  But the Lord must have something more in mind for this airhead, since he decided it wasn't my day to die today, and for that I am extremely grateful.