I dreamed I saw wild geese in flight

Malmesbury is built on the side of a valley where the wind whips around so furiously that a bird with any amount of skill can stay aloft for hours.

Close to a millennium ago, a monk named Eilmer lived at the Abbey which still stands at the center of town. Eilmer took to studying the birds as they swooped and glided around, and decided that he could try that too.

So he built himself some wings and jumped off the tower.

History records that at first he was able to glide roughly six hundred feet, then one of two things occurred:

1) He transferred from one air current to another, and having no experience at gliding, lost control.

2) He freaked out.

Eilmer survived, but was crippled for the rest of his life. He is recorded to have been a pleasant fellow prone to joking that if he were to do it again he would remember to affix a tail.

I adore Eilmer. Not just because it is so easy to laugh at the idea of something called "Elmer the Flying Monk," but because of what I can see (through the haze of historical records) of his spirit.

He saw something he wanted to try to do. He understood the risks, and went ahead anyway. And when he ultimately failed, he faced the consequences with dignity and humor.

All I'm doing right now is starting a blog. I'm not jumping off of some church tower. If this thing loses control or freaks me out, I'm walking away whole.

But right now, I'm seeing a long horizon and feeling the wind in my hair.