Mixed feelings

I walked into Kendal at lunchtime to buy the miniMinx's birthday present (she'll be sixteen, tomorrow). There's no real direct route to the town centre; I can cut down the old canal or follow the curves of the river Kent on one side or the other.

On this occasion I crossed the river, just past Abbot's Hall, on the bridge by the children's playground. There were loads of people there and, as I came off the bridge and the trees were no longer in the way, I could see a helicopter in the middle of the park.

I felt a little nauseous, thinking that someone, probably a child, must have hurt themselves quite badly if the helicopter was required. That said, the atmosphere seemed very calm and I ended up standing there watching the helicopter along with everyone else. 

After a few minutes, the engines started and the noise and pitch increased until there was a sense of incredible tension between the earth and air, with the helicopter trapped in between. The body lifted slightly, although the rails were still on the ground, and then, very slowly at first, it left the ground and, the higher it went, the more it became a thing of the air. 

There was something so magnificent about it that there was a sense of anticlimax as it left us and disappeared over the trees. I waited a moment longer and then went to do my shopping. 

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-10.7 kgs