Robins and woodpeckers arrived yesterday
Canadian geese came by in February- the earliest
I remember - they will be back by September
When will you?
 
Lilac and lightning bugs because lavender
And old lace has already been done
But I have lilac here in the mountains
And butterflies when they come
You want to stay the night?
 
We’ll light a candle, make a fire
Sing and dance until we tire, but never
Of each other, there is much to say
What we’ve seen and done and dreamed
When did we lose our way?
 
You pop the corn and I’ll make fudge
Play our favorite old records, eat in bed
Talk of music we love and books we’ve read
And push away the cold
How soon can you be here?
 
“There’s a storm across the valley”
But “country roads” can’t take us home
“Poems and prayers and promises”
Shooting stars, wildwood paths to roam
How many John Denver songs to heal a heart?
 
I, like a bird out in the elements singing
Without provocation or reason, fly
Like a bird sensing a change in seasons
Not waiting around to see where
The snow may fall. Do you like to fly?
                        

is what Larry Walters told the reporter after 
his two-hour flight when asked why he did it. 
 
Piloting a Sears patio chair powered by 45 helium-
filled weather balloons, wearing a parachute, 
packing a pellet gun, a CB radio, sandwiches, 
soft drinks, and a camera, in 1982 Larry rose 
to about 16,000 feet, eventually entering federal 
air space near Long Beach airport, where 
he was sighted by TWA and Delta Airline pilots. 
 
Shooting a few balloons 
he began a slow descent 
until the balloons’ 
dangling cables 
caught in a power line, 
causing a blackout 
in a Long Beach 
neighborhood
for 20 minutes, 
but also allowing him 
to climb down 
to the ground 
where he was arrested 
by waiting members 
of the LAPD. 
 
Regional safety inspector Neal Savoy said, "We know 
he broke some part of the Federal Aviation Act, and as soon 
as we decide which part it is, some type of charge will be filed. 
If he had a pilot's license, we'd suspend that. But he doesn't.” 
 
Larry said, "If the FAA was around when the Wright Brothers 
were testing their aircraft, they would have never been able 
to make their first flight at Kitty Hawk". 
 
Larry, whose dream since early childhood
had been to someday fly, could never understand 
afterward, why people laughed at him. 
 
He quit his job as a truck driver, gave motivational speeches, 
hiked the San Gabriel Mountains and did volunteer work 
for the United States Forest Service before shooting himself 
in the heart in Angeles National Forest, October 6, 1993.