I am out of the loop, out of touch, no longer in a state of flow. I am a little a drift of the course. 3 weeks ago I was a cutter with a fair wind in my sails. Presently I feel like that same cutter in the doldrums - rowing hard to rediscover that prevailing wind that was propelling me to my destination. That wind was a state of "flow" that maximised my productivity and made the process plain sailing. Momentum is key and I have let mine dwindle.

It has been a blast this last two weeks, but has allowed little time for flight training or blogging. Or thinking about either. By little I mean peanuts. My focus has been on my best man duties. The first being planning/executing and recovering from the stag weekend in Ibiza. Which was flanked by serious car issues - my clutch went walkies at 4am as we left the M4 with 5 on board, giving us 30mins to get to the airport with all of Avon and Bristol still to navigate. In aviation it would be called a non-stop taxi challenge. A more familiar synonym would be the film Speed with Keanu Reeves. If you're ever flying from BRS and concerned that your 4 wheeled steed is on it's last legs, book parking at the Forge car park - there are no pesky barriers, you can literally role off the road and into a space. At 0430 (bang on time) we did. I left worrying about getting it home until we landed two days later.

The peanuts I am referring to in the previous paragraph is the 4hours 40mins of air travel between BRS and IBZ. It was beyond awesome to be in the air again. Jimmer kindly offered me his window seat just in front of the wing. I spent the flight out using the experience to refresh everything I have learned at ground school over the last few months. I sat and watched the wing working and visualised all the invisible processes that make up the syllabus of Principles of flight. I listened to the buzz of the engine and reminded myself of the process that is occurring in this CFM turbofan to create the 34,000 pounds/inch of thrust that is propelling us forward. When the Ryanair stewardess wanted to move people around in the cabin I explained the principles of Mass and Balance to the lads. On the home leg I battled sleep and with a mind not feeling up to analysing systems and recalling technical information I sat glued to the window and allowed myself to fully appreciate, indulge and be captivated by the wondrous view of the iridescent mediterranean and its mirror image in the sky. To use a welshism; due due I love this perspective of our world. On this flight too, as it's crystal clear, I enjoy plotting our course over sea and land and wondering about the processes and decisions that have gone into deciding the route we are tracing across the sky.

So that was it, my small immersion in aviation over the last few weeks. The 6 days following that flight home were filled with speech writing and prepping the venue for my mates big day. All of which were a huge success (even my speech).

Now I'm here, chuffed to be getting back into the swing of normal life and documenting our progress . But also with a definite feeling of frustration that I am low on momentum. Ground school has finished until September, and I've nothing in my budget for a lesson. i'll have to do an exam - soon. And a fair chunk more time in virtual reality (my new favourite app and toy) visualising my way to the front window instead of the wing seat.