9/12/10 Diving

I like jumping.  Full stop.

While many people have dreams about flying, I have them about jumping and being able to survive falls from impossible heights.  There’s a recurring dream I have where I fall from the top of a tall building and land on the sidewalk where horrified pedestrians begin to scream and cry only to see me get up, dust myself off and walk away.  Since this happens over and over, I can only assume that I’m doing it for kicks and shock value.

The jumping playgound

Milo surverys the territory

The only safe, if not sane, way for me to indulge this love of jumping and recreate the dream is to jump into water.  The pool in the river was deep enough, and with rocks all around providing the platform, I couldn’t resist.  The smaller rocks were enough to satisfy me until I saw the locals climbing the larger rock face.  I didn’t view it as a challenge from the locals as some might; I viewed it as an opportunity.  These guys had tested the depths, so I knew it was at least deep enough to jump in.  After diving in head first I was again content, that is until the locals took it one step further by climbing even higher on the rocks.  Yet another opportunity.

I pushed apprehension and fear aside.  I didn’t need Space to invoke the “Philosophy of Yes” and ask me if I wanted to; the decision had already been made.  The climb was difficult, slow and deliberate because the rocks were so slippery.  Looking out over the edge, it was more dangerous than I initially thought.  I would have to push off strongly to clear the rocks…I know…crazy…but I had balanced carelessness with confidence so what could go wrong?  A couple of deep breaths and I was off.

I knew I was in trouble the moment my feet left the ground; I had slipped while pushing off and my body was rotating forward.  The slip had seriously compromised the distance between me and the rocks.  The last thing I wanted to do was enter head first since I have a healthy fear of total paralysis.  I scrambled like Wile E. Coyote in mid-air and just like the ill-fated cartoon character my results were largely unsuccessful.  I hit the water on my left side…hard.  Although I wasn’t dead, I would definitely be sore.  The metallic taste of blood in my mouth was unmistakable; the impact had cut the inside of my lips.  Even so, the smile on my face couldn’t be wiped away.



Things start to go wrong

Impact