For the first time I started to feel like I was flying and not just along for the ride. It struck me as backwards from what I expected. I wanted to be at twice tree height when I made my upwind turn for final, but I had dove a little hard and ended up eye level with a larger distant tree. No problem, I used some of my speed to bump myself higher and made a good final left. I felt my legs and stomach tingle as I went upright.
Every pilot knows that no one ever got hurt flying.
It was usually in the landing part, one way or another. It was time to flare. But because I didn't have my cleats I slipped on a fresh cow-pie and ended up on my butt. I knew that I was going to get some comment from John. Ok, you did it.