flight

machinery progressed rapidly after the discovery of the lazyball — but it wasnt for another century that native motio flying became a universal human capability. “The great noweme” — unhindered vehicless flight — “opened the Earth inwards”: exploded the livable, seeable, intakeable space, “pushed a new frontier”; “mechanic transportation squeezed the planet, flying makes it so much bigger.” The web of land roads began crumbling, teasing cleanup maniacs and dissolving connoisseurs; cities — in a last flare before a long decline — sprang three-dimensional, with every nook at every level suddenly reachable, livable, personable (what a contrast with modernitys geometric, un-human-scale towers indifferent to the myrmecoid travelers below). Badminton, byrunning, cloud hunting, grazing; uncaged pet birds and easy underwater locomotion; itinerant homes; human footprints' density growing, on average, with elevation (summits are honeypots); the newly habitual farth-of-see with the new eyesight; elimination of the “shortness stigma,” a downtrend in average body size; new perspectives on leaving and staylust; even societal shifts such as the dissolution of nation states and resurgence of collectives — all these have been attributed, at least in part, to the new ungrounded mobility.  ■    Walking and running arent forgotten but changed, and narrowed: sliding and hovering are simply more natural once you master your motio; the feel of flying has been compared to swimming, skating, biking, quietboating but similarities are superficial. Steadily cruising at an altitude takes little energy and minimal limbwork but maneuvering near the ground or indoors is more difficult: mass-damping of the lazyball requires active movements — winging — to induce and control your flight. Overall, flying is a demanding physical activity, satisfying but not effortless; some pursue fully suspended lifestyles — “legwork zero” — but for most staying afloat around the clock gets arduous after a couple days. “The youngest of the sports” never adopted competitiveness, nor even focused on fluency; instead, much of the flight exercise for body and mind strives to prevent accustoming — teaches to always take flight for the miracle it is.

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