4737 posts 10/31/2012 9:51 am
Last Read:
12/2/2013 2:59 am
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I've been Tagged - Ten and a Bit Warm Revelations
I was tagged by three lovely, delightful bloggers - [blog misskissin], Stranger_inSpain and Violette001. How could I refuse? So here goes....
One
When I was three I watched my father dive into a swimming pool and then decided to dive in after him. At that point I realised I could not swim! I had a phobia about water that lasted about three years which was cured by another friend of the family swimming out to a rock in the middle of a rocky cove with me on his shoulders. Then he threw me in, so I had to swim back. Kill or cure!
Two
The first vehicle I took the controls of was a Fokker F27 Friendship airliner travelling on an internal flight from Singapore to north Malaya. I was 13. I was allowed to steer and gently bank the aircraft. Yes, there were passengers on board! They don’t do that kind of thing any more! The second vehicle was a 52 ton tank. It had a double-declutch gearbox and a gear shift between my legs. Having never driven a car getting the double declutch wrong that close to my gonads was pretty terrifying! Talk about incentive to get it right quickly! I then didn't drive a car until I was well into my twenties!
Three
I once used to go out most days to practice my golf strokes on the Maifeld in Berlin. This was where Hitler held some of his greatest rallies. Just me, all alone. It was eerie.
Four
Despite the UK have very strict firearm laws I learned to shoot at the age of 12, as I came from an army family and had opportunities down on the range. My favourite was the submachine gun, which was a real boy’s toy. Scary, huh? I haven’t used any firearm since I was a and hope that the strict gun control laws stay in the UK.
Five
I’ve visited 24 different countries. I haven’t got to the South American and Australian continents ...... yet. Started travelling very young and believe it’s the reason why I consider myself to be open-minded and tolerant.
Six
I’ve had two supernatural experiences. One was hearing my grandfather’s dying gasps six years after he passed away. The other was a person in dungarees apparently walking to work who simply vanished in front of my eyes. The first froze my spine. The second left me totally confused.
Seven
I have had four situations while flying when my death was a real possibility if things went any more wrong. In that respect I am lucky. I have learned that my death is no different from before I was born, and I have never had any nightmares about that. I do believe that the amazing universe transcends any attempt at understanding it, leaving us with an increasingly rational view of what is around us while at the same time retaining an eternal mystery. Therefore there is something that is greater than myself, but I’m relaxed about letting that mystery arrive. Trying to get me to believe in God because it’s a ticket to an afterlife is a bit of a timewaster for those who try!
Eight
I’m influenced strongly by Buddhism, but I would fall far short of a true follower’s dedication.
Nine
My username warmandsexy52 was based on how I felt at the time I had to figure out what I was going to call myself on AF-F.
Ten
I can play classical guitar, although I am rusty from lack of practice. I am a moderately competent cartoonist and am working on a novel, which I will publish through Amazon. I’m as intrigued by what it takes for a minor author to get their work to go viral as I am by the process of creating the story in the first place. I promised I would not blog this ..... Oops!
Eleven
When I took up paragliding I had no idea what a paraglider was. I originally wanted a tandem ride on a hang-glider to start my bucket list ten years ago. I was persuaded to learn how to paraglide, probably because I’d part with more money! I have had a number of awesome experiences, including flying with birds of prey, looking down on mountain peaks and surfing clouds. There is a beauty to free-flying that has caught my heart and soul. Sometimes I feel I have taken fire from the gods and the eternal addiction to fly is the price they wish me to pay. I do not consider myself to be a thrillseeker, but someone deeply passionate about his relationship with invisible and elemental sky. My attitude towards sex is similar, except the relationship is with another passionate soul. I guess I’m just a romantic.
Twelve
Twelve is my lucky number! And anyway I'm feeling just a little rebellious!
So many other bloggers have already been tagged. I feel as though I've come in a fair way down the pyramid! Sheesh! The things that go on when you're away for a few days! If you haven't been feel free to consider yourself well and truly tagged and start making that list!.
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13158 posts 11/3/2012 1:16 pm |
Thank you - such a nice comment.
Paragliding is the simplest form of flying. I have my wing and harness in a rucksack and I can fly anywhere where it is legal and safe to do so. I cannot imagine my life without free-flight.
When I was in Berlin as a teenager the wall was very much there. The Eastern Bloc had created a defensive structure that would do credit to any battlefield ..... only it was to stop civilians from leaving the east! When I was there they painted the eastern side white, so escapees would show up more clearly under the searchlights. I once inadvertently sailed a two person dinghy too near the border on the swollen River Havel - to be turned back by a big grey gunboat with a officer shouting through a megaphone at me. That was exciting!
Berlin at the height of the cold war was totally surreal! So many stories!
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13158 posts 11/3/2012 12:40 pm |
Quoting smartasswoman:
I definitely agree that foreign travel broadens the mind (although I'm not as well travelled as you are). I think if one has travelled to other countries and seen that the people there are.... just people like you and me... it becomes more difficult to engage in knee-jerk demonization of other countries.
(I'm thinking of when I was in France in 2003. France was not a popular country with the U.S. at that time because of its stance on Iraq. There was the nonsense with U.S. restaurants putting 'freedom fries' on the menu because they refused to put 'French fries' on the menu. *eye roll* I encountered a lot of lovely people in my two weeks in the south of France.)
I find it hard to turn a blind eye to what can only be described as core humanity - that we all face essentially the same human condition. I remember at Checkpoint Alpha at Helmstedt, between West and East Germany en route by road to Berlin, when my father took his papers to be checked, a young Russian soldier would come and practice his English through the car window. So many other instances like that, where it is so easy to "lose the plot."
My father, a career soldier, decorated for bravery in WWII, when asked to tell stories, would more often than not tell of the ironies, the tragedies. How he didn't have it in him to shoot a badly wounded German officer when he was asked to, but instead left his water flask and a few cigarettes. He, of all people, taught me about the need to avoid machismo and bragadoccio.
The photograph, incidentally, was taken in the South of France. One of my favourite haunts and a part of the world I will return to.
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35813 posts 11/3/2012 7:16 am |
I definitely agree that foreign travel broadens the mind (although I'm not as well travelled as you are). I think if one has travelled to other countries and seen that the people there are.... just people like you and me... it becomes more difficult to engage in knee-jerk demonization of other countries.
(I'm thinking of when I was in France in 2003. France was not a popular country with the U.S. at that time because of its stance on Iraq. There was the nonsense with U.S. restaurants putting 'freedom fries' on the menu because they refused to put 'French fries' on the menu. *eye roll* I encountered a lot of lovely people in my two weeks in the south of France.)
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13158 posts 11/3/2012 2:44 am |
Thank you for the invitation. It was fun.
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13158 posts 11/2/2012 6:11 pm |
Quoting CampoGirl:
That type of supernatural experience is good for a person... ya never forget it when it happens to you.
It certainly has made me realise that there's more to all this than meets the eye!
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43434 posts 11/2/2012 10:19 am |
That type of supernatural experience is good for a person... ya never forget it when it happens to you.
Now on my Blog: 👄 New Pictures 👓
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11/1/2012 4:16 pm
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What a wonderful list!
No surprise you are influenced strongly by Buddhism,
it shows from the kindness of your heart..
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13158 posts 11/1/2012 2:23 pm |
It is that awareness that people are essentially the same when all the crap is cleared away that is the blessing that seeing many places and many contexts brings. Do paraglide. 
I really envy the birds when they are circling overhead and I've missed the thermal ...... grrrr! Then I realise they don't have fingers and opposable thumbs, can't drive cars and use TV remotes and feel a very childish schadenfreude! lol!
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13158 posts 11/1/2012 2:19 pm |
Quoting sexysixties2:
You have lead a fascinating life. I certainly wish that I had travelled more.
So many places still. There's such a big world out there. I have been lucky being born into a family on the move, so to speak.
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13158 posts 11/1/2012 2:17 pm |
Quoting moonfire2u:
You are truly a fascinating man...I am so glad you are back...kisses...
Thank you, dearest Moonfire. Glad to be back too. {=}
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39750 posts 11/1/2012 8:22 am |
You have lead a fascinating life. I certainly wish that I had travelled more.
"Age does not protect you from love, but love, to some extent, protects you from age."
~~Anais Nin~~
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2601 posts 10/31/2012 1:24 pm |
You are truly a fascinating man...I am so glad you are back...kisses...
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