Lou wrote:
I'm sorry, I didn't see this post until now. One of the
fondest memories of my first solo was seeing my own
shadow below.

My strongest memories were how the plane LEPT off the surface with 200
less pounds and more rearward GC, and remembering on downwind that I HAD
to land the plane with no reminders or comments from the CFI.

My PP CFI was a "master of distraction" type of chatty guy. He would
continually yak on about things that had nothing to do with flying. I
also noticed how peaceful solo flight was! G