Gravity: it’s the law!
And it works on a lot of levels…but the summer after James was born, I decided to challenge the law on my own terms.
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| Be careful what you wish for |
The T-shirt says “Go Wild,” but the face says, “I’m bored.”
We were on vacation at Donner Lake and I was feeling, oh, I don’t know, earthbound, maybe?
So, someone (me?) got the bright idea to go parasailing. Over Lake Tahoe. Where the water is beautiful. And cold. Really, really cold.
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| Thinking about that cold water |
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| Most people do this over warm water, and there’s a good reason for that |
But I was feeling brave and a little reckless and thought: why not try defying gravity for once? So I put on the funny vest and latched onto the parachute. The boat took off across the lake and I flew up…
Higher and higher over the lake. People in their boats waved at me as I flew over them. I could see eye to eye with the birds. Looking down, I saw the whole lake and I marveled at how lovely it was. And I remembered that I would have to come down at some point into that lovely, blue, freezing water. Feet first.
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| Way, way up there…. |
Yes, it was wonderful, and I tried not to obsess over the landing and just enjoy the ride. I’d never done anything like it before.
And when the guys in the boat began to cut the engine, I slowly– but not too slowly, floated back down. When I hit the water, and bobbed up, the cold rush was already a memory. Not so bad, after all.
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| Did it! Thumbs up!! |
As my family will tell you, I am the original Chicken of the Sea. Getting me into cold water can take up to two weeks–inch by inch–which was how long we stayed at the lake in those days.
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| The Lady in the Lake |
I always made sure someone took a picture of me all the way in the lake so I could prove I’d actually gone in. I have no doubt this was taken on the afternoon of the very last day of our vacation after a lot of badgering.
Brrrrrr….