Learning to fly

It's been almost a year since this snapshot was taken and I was just reminiscing about the really great time I had in Hawaii. Most of the time I spend my days doing what I need to do to earn enough money to do more than just survive. I love my work and I wake up every morning looking forward to the challenges that teaching provides me, but I also have a long list of things to do before I'm finished with the time allotted me on the big blue marble we call home.
I'm not gonna bore you with a numbered or bulleted list of personal preferences or dreams of things I' want to do before I kick the bucket. You have yours and I have mine and if ever our paths should meet while attempting to acquire those memories that will last a lifetime; lets just hope that we may form a friendship and be able to someday sit down over a savory glass of whisky and recall the fun we had and how we might have different points of view about what we did or how it affected our lives. Now the chances of that happening are pretty slim, but if you are so inclined you can share your experiences with me, here, over a virtual drink or three.
Some of the things I have seen and done so far are pretty cool and if you don't mind I'll share some of them with you.
Sky diving over the north shore of Hawaii and seeing the jewel of the pacific surrounded by emerald waters has to be pretty much at the top of the list (I only regret that I didn't go swimming with the dolphins, but to tell you the truth I didn't have enough bio~survival tickets).
Trekking for two two weeks through Yosemite national park. I saw so many waterfalls and encountered so few people. A stunning feeling, to have so many gorgeous vistas surround you and not have to share them with another human. Running the rapids on a level 3 river that turned out to be a level 5 due to all the rain.
Getting tossed in the dunk was probably one of the scariest moments yet.Getting arrested for A&B as a bartender in N.Y. Not my first time, so it kinda gave me the incentive to take off for Japan.
Hucking myself of 5 meter cliffs only to land in the sweetest champagne snow in the mountains of Iwate.
Working out with an 8th degree master of Aikido. There was magic in the air around him.
Teaching kids to ride motorcycles and watching their faces light up when they find out they can really do it, racing enduros over the back trails of my adopted city.
You know as I'm writing this there are so many memories returning to me and the flood of them is overwhelming. I think I'll just sign off and relive them without trying to have my fingers keep up with my neural synapses.
To be continued,
NYD.

P.S. I forgot the No. 1. The best, the apex, zenith, summit of them all. The look on my wife's face when I told her I was pregnant, not fat