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I'm suspended in the air with nothing between me and the ground I gazed straight down at the Connecticut River valley. The river sparkles and I spot a water skier. To the north is Vermont's Mt Ascutney and to the east a small hill and grass runway that make up Morningside Flight Park in Charlestown, NH. There I left my nervous parents far below. The wind rustled the purple sail of the hang glider above my head. My eyes flitted back and forth trying to capture each moment. The air rushed all around me; I felt it comb through the pony tail sticking out of the back of my helmet, it is way different from a commercial airliner where two inches of glass separates you from the air. I felt the air on my face, inhaled its clean sent, and heard it whip past my ears. I would say it felt like a dream only my dreams were never windy. The only other noise is the hum of Rhett Radford's lime green ultra-light tow plane pulling us up. The air smells fresh and clean. I glimpsed our triangular shadow far below on the hillside and felt a jolt of excitement. My instructor Bob Hastings asked "What do you think?" The wind was quite enough that we could talk easily. "It's amazing!" I reply. Part of me was still on the ground in shock hoping I come down alive so I could tell all my friends, while the rest of me soaked in the scenery.

I hung parallel to the horizon holding on to handles on either side of Bob's harness. This allowed Bob to use the control bar to shift our weight together so he could steer the glider effectively. I asked Bob "How long have you been doing this?" He replied "22 years." Trees and fields looked much farther away now. I spotted what looked like a construction site, and mobile homes. My eyes scanned in all directions. Every so often Bob told me to look at the camera mounted on the wing. I smiled wide but I could barely stand to wait the 5 seconds it took for the camera to click. I want to keep looking at the world. For only $155 I lived out my childhood fantasy of flying like a bird. For $20 extra dollars I could soon claim bragging rights to the most impressive Facebook photo's.

We climbed higher and the sky became a little hazy. We hit turbulence, the glider bumped around and I gritted my teeth and held tight to the handles remembering Bob's words "what ever happens don't let go." For a brief moment I wondered if we were going to survive but the bumps subside and I hear a "Yee Ha!" from Bob. I didn't share the same enthusiasm but hearing his enthusiasm was

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