It’s been five months since I’ve been up in the air, but I finally flew the other day. Last year I flew right through the winter, but it’s more difficult to fly now. 

… Oh no, I’m not talking about COVID-19 restrictions; I’m talking about flying my drone. 

A year ago I could take my drone up with few restrictions on the airspace I could fly in. Not this year. The restrictions are plenty, so choosing a place to fly my drone is difficult and requires going a good distance out of the city.

Along with all the restrictions, there are weather factors to consider in winter. The temperature can’t be too cold or the battery might freeze and my drone might fall out of the sky … not to mention my fingers might freeze off while holding the controller. 

I have experience with freezing fingers … playing pond hockey way past the time hypothermia starts to kick in. 

… Or being in the thick of a snowball fight, when the snow is really wet and your gloves have soaked through. You can’t stop or you will get pelted, but in those temperatures your hands become one with the snowball – frozen! 

But earlier this week I finally managed to take my drone out. It was perfect for a flight – well, somewhat. 

It had been a great day on the Saturday, but I wasn’t able to get out. Then Sunday it rained all day. The forecast for Monday was the same but turned out to be nice. So late in the day I decided to get out there. 

What I didn’t know was they had lifted the ban on using trails and walking paths. When I got to the spot I had planned for my flight, the parking lot was full of cars. 

The spot was an old railway line that has been converted into a walking, jogging, hiking, biking trail. I’ve been there before with maybe a car or two. Not this day. There were more cars than the parking area could hold.

I tried another spot farther up the trail. Same thing. It was like everyone decided, “Let’s go walking and biking today.” 

I did eventually find a place to park and I got my drone in the air. 

I wasn’t really interested in filming anything, and believe me there wasn’t much that was interesting to film at this spot. 

Everything is still brown; there is no colour. Other than evergreen trees, there aren’t even leaves on the trees.

I just wanted to get flying again, and practise some techniques so that when I get a chance to film something interesting I will be able to pull off the shot in a cool way only drones can capture.

Five months off of flying is a long time but, much like riding a bike, you don’t forget how to do it. 

I hope now that spring has sprung, it won’t be so long in between flights.

Here’s the thing: When was the last time you spent time with God or spent more than two minutes reading your Bible? How long has it been since you’ve been to church? Well, all it takes is some desire and inspiration to do it. Plan a time to meet with God; pick up your Bible and read; stream a church service … I know of a good one (Kingston Alliance Church on YouTube.com).

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: You have more free time right now – what are you doing with it? Leave your comments and questions below.