Against My Better Judgement
Although the two photos shown are not my own, they do show what I and my family did (against my better judgement) yesterday. Here is the background:
- My youngest son has been trying to cajole all of us to give a try to one of these zipline adventure parks that is about a 1.5 hour drive away. He has been to it and several others and enjoys them greatly and thought it would be great for all of us to do as a family. We finally found a time that would work for all of us and took a trip there.
- Heights, balance activities, walking on ropes, etc.... are NOT my forte!!!!! In fact, I get rather nervous and a bit "shaky" feeling about high places... even just walking up to the edge of a bridge railing and looking over the edge.
- The park had six levels of difficulty. Each level had some arrangement of about 15 different obstacles.... different rope and cable bridges to traverse across, zip-lines to move between trees, cable and log (very tippy) platforms to navigate through, rock walls to climb, ropes to climb, etc. My youngest son, who when he was younger, I referred to as a monkey, quickly worked through all six different levels with ease. The other kids did various levels without much concern, but did not go to the top two. My wife called it quits after level 1. I agree with her that Level 1 was frightening as hell. It was the lowest level and you were about 25 feet (8m) off the ground during all the activities. But, I kept trying to be careful, diligent and precise in all my actions, and kept working to quiet my fears. I was able to work up through level 4 before I had enough. Level four had me doing these damn scary tasks at about 70 feet (21m) off the ground. But, I did them!
- Now, in reality, the park was very safe.... you had to wear a special harness through all activities, and this harness had you attached to a very stout, industrial sized cable throughout using pairs of weight bearing carbiners that you had attach and detach from each and every event. If you were to fall off of a wire, or tumble off of a rock wall, or fall from a zipline, you would then be "saved" (and also very sore and embarrassed as hell) by having the attached harness/carbiner system break your fall to prevent serious injury.
Overall, I have to say.... it was not what I would call fun (my youngest son would vehemently disagree with this assessment).... but I can say that feel I accomplished something. I worked through my fears, I used my careful, slow, and steady nature to actually make it through these frightening challenges. And, I DID NOT fall one time! Not too damn shabby for an old, grey bearded duffer like me.
Oh! Hah.... and one other thing.... this was one of the first significant outdoor "outings" we have gone on in a while where we did not wear masks. So, my wife and I were navigating up the entry ladder to the platform to our initial Level 1 start..... I felt that my harness was loose and not fitting right. So, I asked one of the kid workers (all the employees are kids in the range of about 18 - 25) working a part time Summer job to please double check the various attachment points on my harness. The young kid did a good job cinching everything up, and then proceeded to comment on how "very impressive" he thought my beard/mustache were and was asking how long it took me to grow it. This caused me to laugh for a couple of reasons:
1. Ever since I grew my beard out to its "big" proportions, I have been getting complements and comments from students at the U, folks out and about when shopping, and various other locations quite frequently..... until Covid-19 hit and we all became masked.
2. But, this was the first unmasked experience in quite a while.... and I have to admit it felt very fun to hear someone mention it again.
3. But, best of all, it amused me to see my wife roll her eyes at me after the kid asked.... because she knows I enjoy the complements.... but she would rather that I go back to my shorter beard. And she finds it rather strange how many times folks have mentioned it (pre Covid, anyhow).
Other short bullets:
- PCS - 7: More of the yearning feeling is back again. Still a very strong interest/desire to smoke my pipes. But, the deep seated yearning is back too. Not sure what to make of the other "no-yearning" days. They were just odd. I have been spending time looking through old Prince Albert, Sir Walter Raleigh and Borkum Riff pipe tobacco advertisements from magazines that are available on eBay. They are so fun to read and view and bring back such wonderful memories. Every once in a while this morning, I was gently sniffing the bowl of a few of the pipes that are on my desk pipe rack/humidor..... and I have been enjoying the beautiful remnants of odors of the various tobaccos I had worked through each bowl..... it bring back such vivid, joyful memories.
- I really worked hard this week in running to try to get quite a bit ahead in my 53-55 mile (85-89km) per week goal. I did this partially because last week was very rough in terms of motivation and I wanted to try to kick that lack of motivation to the curb. But, now, I find I will only need to run 2 miles (~3.2 km) on Saturday to reach the minimum of the week's goal. Maybe I will try to do two different speed mile trials? Not sure.
- The photos at the top are not of the park we visited, but are just stock photos. I could not find any of the park we visited.... but it looked rather similar.
5 Comments:
This would definitely be out of my comfort zone since I don't like heights and get vertigo but I would be proud of myself if I could do it. If that's you, your beard doesn't look long to me at all. Of course, I am used to the hipsters of the PacNW who have very long beards, usually with product in them. :)
No.... that is not me. But it was a reasonably close facsimile to how I look. My beard is about 3-4 time “bigger”. I think the “bigger” aspect is what tends to draw the attention.... because my hair is very curly (almost akin to an “Afro”)... so it always looks robust and “fluffy” as akin to droopy, long (ZZ-top) beards.
I've thought about doing this (in the abstract) and it would probably be beyond me know due to age-related problems. Also, like you I am not very good with heights.
Your estimation of the age of the truck (1967) was impressive. Someone pegged it at 68-69, and then someone else very confidently posted that it is a 1968 model. (The latter evaluation was on my Flickr version of the photo.)
Sounds like a harrowing time. And I liked the tale about the beard. It seems a good a fit with your personality as well as the pipe. And speaking of which...I know this is your life and not mine but I will say it: I miss you smoking the pipe. I miss your poetic descriptions of melding flame and leaf, your philosophical musings about the gentle art and its overall benefits; I miss that it was so endemically part of your personality. You helped me to get started on my pipe-journey in more ways than you know. And now, while I am nowhere even close to being an "old hand" at it...at least I'm no longer a "greenhorn". I know how to do the charring light, to let tobacco dry out a bit if its a bit too moist to smoke, the right smoking cadence depending upon the tobacco, not to smoke high nicotine blends on an empty stomach...(learned that one the hard way) Pipe smoking has become a sort of camaraderie-link with other smokers, a meditation, and something to discuss with newfound friends from all over. I can honestly say it has enriched my life even though I do not smoke every day. It requires patience to do that...and I'm just not up to that much futzing. Anyway, that's just my perspective. It's your life. You do what's good for you. But I'm glad you were a part of the evolution, Professor.
GaP, I suspect the Professor is close to making the decision you're hoping for. He's such an over-thinker that he'll need to be sure that he's sure that he's sure he's making the right decision, in the right way and in the right time. But reading his many posts, I'm sure the day will come. There hasn't been a time in the last three years when he hasn't been a pipe smoker. He's a pipe-smoker who happens not to be smoking at the moment, but that moment will surely end.
At least I hope it will, for his sake. I spent a couple of decades trying desperately to convince myself that I wasn't a pipe-smoker and could refashion my identity to exclude my beloved pipes and tobaccos. And now I regret every wasted day that I spent away from them, away from the pull of their benevolent influence and joyous presence.
Yet you and I can only sit by and watch and wish him the best. He'll need to return to his old friends on his own accord. But I will be so pleased, one of these days, when I read that our Professor has welcomed his pipes and tobaccos back into his well-lived life, with the added advantage that, having seen "both sides of the fence," he will be immune from the temptation to abstain again and put himself through any more unnecessary discomfort.
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