Rockets And Relaxation With Friends

Flying WV #3 Launch 2 from Ricky Beamer on Vimeo.

This past Saturday, I awoke with grand goals. I wanted to spend the majority of the day writing and ruminating on the events of the last two months and “catch up” with blogging.

This simply did not happen. Instead, I found myself getting out of bed early to join my friends Ricky, Jason, Justin and Sarah for a rocket launch. 

No, we were not in Florida, nor were we going to observe the latest exploratory journey of NASA. Instead, we were driving into western Monongalia County for the launch. We journeyed just a few minutes outside Morgantown, and Ricky brought out his rocket, “Flying WV #3”. We had three video cameras and a single still camera recording the launch as we gathered on a rural hillside. I honestly felt like a close friend to Homer Hickam and his buddies in Coalwood as Ricky began setting up the launch pad.

The rocket had three engines and was anticipated to shoot into the air about 2000 feet. We hooked a switchbox to Ricky’s car battery for the launch and each of us prepared our recording devices to take in this historic flight. 5-4-3-2-1-BLAST OFF!

There was a malfunction. Only one of the engines fired. The rocket only rose a few feet off the ground.  After peaking at about 30 feet, the three pieces of the rocket separated, and drifted back to the earth. As the rocket slowly dropped, the second engine fired, but was not able to propel the separated rocket in any direction. 

Our chief engineer. Is currently reviewing footage and preparing for a future launch. Thankfully this launch did no damage to the rocket’s integrity, and a future launch should be able to take place later this year.  It was great connecting with friends on this little adventure, and even dreaming of a future adventure of either hiking, or camping, or a little bit of both with a great crew of incredible friends.

As we wound our way back to the house, we were visited by another friend--Joel Williams. Joel has been part of our community, for a few years, he was in the neighborhood, and he stopped in for a visit. We enjoyed good conversation, laughter, and some homemade popcorn.

While I didn’t blog during the day (or even open my laptop), I have to say it was incredibly relaxing to be able to spend time just relaxing. I actually took a nap in the middle o f the day, and went to sleep before 10PM. This was an incredibly different pace than I typically live, and I truly believe it was a much needed day of rest.

Somehow, over the last few months I’ve found myself getting out of the practice of Sabbath, but this day, was a great first step back into it.

A Lengthy Hiatus

Well, it has been approximately two months since I last blogged. In the beginning, this was the unintentional consequence of preparing for my wedding and heading off for a lengthy honeymoon. Since returning to “the real world” it has just seemed that there hasn’t quite been the time to write. And I guess that’s the irony; a life of adventure allows for plenty of content, but alas it has minimized time to write.

I have still made a habit of reflecting, and often, I will awaken early in the morning and go for a walk in my neighborhood.  I arise and slip on my sneakers and make my way through the quiet streets. I make my way to Mountaineer Field and Ruby Memorial Hospital, and then proceed back to the house. Part of my early morning walk is for the quiet and opportunity for reflection. Part is simply a matter of exercise and enjoying the created world.  I walk early partially for the quiet, but honestly it has been so hot and humid that I find it necessary to rise early in order to beat the heat too.

As much as I have enjoyed the walking in the early morning world, I have also greatly missed blogging. Since I first started blogging (in Winter 2003), I have found it to be a spiritual discipline of sorts, and an outlet for me to be able to write and reflect on places, experiences, and people with whom I’ve connected. It’s also provided me an opportunity to share the journey with others, including you.

If you have been disappointed by my lack of posts, I apologize. I’m really looking forward to getting back into the routine, and I believe my next several posts will be a mixture of reflections from the last few months along with some current happenings.

I’ve taken a lengthy hiatus, but I am back, and looking forward to diving deeply into the written word.  Thanks for reading, and for allowing me to share with you.