Bird watching and sky diving

Things change as you age. Judson Cornwall used to talk about young love being exciting and old love being soothing. Bi-focals, fake teeth, spare parts and taste buds....speaking of taste buds, peas and carrots can now be interchanged with hot fudge sundaes and bird watching for roller coasters. Speaking of bird watching, a few years back Mary bought me a new bird feeder for Christmas. It was green and had a perch for the birds to sit on and enjoy the sun flower seeds. When the snakes and squirrels jumped on it it would close. Speaking of snakes, the bird feeder would bring some pretty amazing snakes into the yard as well and that's where the bird feeder became the best of entertainment. Any-way's speaking of Christmas, Joel not knowing the true adventure that could be found in bird feeders thought mom's gift was a little lame. And he purchased a sky diving ticket for me with an expiration date.

Now Joel has not always lived a little over the top. His place of being the youngest and cutest kid in the family was stolen from him at the age of twelve. That was when he became the middle child and a whole lot less significant. He fixed all of that by consciously choosing to live life on the edge. So when Joel is around we all are required to live there with him or feel insignificant ourselves. That's why when Joel moved to Africa, it was good for all of us.

But periodically he would come home and everything would change for a couple of weeks. A couple of years back he booked a wild water rafting trip for us all. It was also at Christmas and both the water and air temperature were close to freezing. Anyone who protested at these ideas was quickly labeled and would become the brunt in the newest story.

Now I actually have great memories of white water rafting but they were allways in the summer. Needless to say as I am gracefully aging, what I remember as being an exhilarating experience turned into a horror movie. The scenes of my life passed quickly before my eyes and I knew it was over. I wasn't only freezing to death, I was drowning as I was being swept on my rear end through the last of the number four's and five's in a series of rapids. It was at least the sixth time we had been thrown out of the boat. We couldn't just ride the sane larger boats, no we must experience the river in all of it's power and glory in the smaller, unstable, properly named, rodeo boats. Our guide was primarily interested in the opportunities presented to him when the boat would roll and lose it's occupants. By the last time of throwing us in the water he had proudly learned how to be king of the boat.

After an hour of standing in the hot shower bringing my body temperature back to normal I began to meditate on why I would actually feel compelled to join in the fun when I could be at home watching the birds.

Knowing my love for birds Joel decided that buying me a sky diving ticket would bring him back into his place of honor and respect in the family.

He called the other day and told me it was now or never. The ticket he had purchased a few years back would expire if not used. Reality began to sink in and I knew I had to follow through. It had been haunting me for the past three years.

Only today as I look back can I enjoy what transpired yesterday. I grinned at myself in the mirror this morning.

Yesterday I was plummeting towards earth at one hundred miles an hour with the pain of jet engines screaming in my ears. As the shoot opened and the calm took effect I was in contortions with the pain of not just the sound but the pressure produced from the five thousand foot drop. I have also found that aging has made my ears a whole lot more sensitive. Everything about the experience was uncomfortable. The straps were binding, cutting off the air. My goggles were fogging up, sweat pouring off my face. I was sitting on the lap of a young man for the ten thousand foot climb in a stifling hot 1957 model Sesna, trying to make light talk. "How are the kids. Do to you like jumping?" He mentioned he enjoyed the previous jump with the twenty eight year old hottie on his lap a lot more. I could understand that.

The view out the door was amazing. I was in the zone. Jason was right behind us waiting for us to roll out into the wind. My stomach was in my throat and one, two three we were off. I don't remember seeing any birds on the way down.

Today I am back home with my bird feeder. Mary and I are both relieved to have this experience in our rear view mirror and I'm relishing the memory of my close brush with death again. Joel is coming for a visit next week. I am planning a bird watching expedition. I think he'll like that.