Alexx's Journal

I approve of ladysprite's version of this meme, so am doing it myself.

1) Visiting a large water park at a tender age (8?): Part of the park had shallow pools that were almost entirely covered by large floating mattress-y things, meant to be an interesting walking-on-top-of experience. I noticed that their coverage was not complete, and one could hypothetically slip under one side and swim to the other underwater. Being a big fan of underwater swimming, I tried it. The 'island' overhead drifted, closing the gap I was aiming for, and I came close to drowning. I never told dad (who was meant to be watching me), since he would have freaked out. The more so, as he already knew about...

2) At that same park, they had a wave pool. Shaped more or less like a normal swimming pool, it had a mechanism in the back which would periodically send waves across the pool, from the deep end to the shallow end. At the shallow end, it was playful surf. When I'd had enough of that, I swam to the deep end. The waves here were much stronger, and I soon decided that this was a bit adventerous even for me, and started heading for a ladder on the side. I *reached* the ladder with little trouble, but ascending it was another matter. I'd get halfway up and a wave would knock me off. Climb climb cliSWOOOOSH swim swim climb climb cliSWOOOOSH swim swim climb climb cliSWOOOOSH... Eventually, I called for help (in a somewhat gurgly fashion), and a lifeguard rescued me.

3) As a teeneager, climbing into and exploring the ruins of the old Worcester train station. This involved, among other things, walking across narrow concrete beams twenty feet above a rubble-strewn floor.

4) In my twenties, driving down 95 shortly after a major snowstorm, and being a wee bit too impatient about my speed. I lost control, and went into a 270-degree spin, narrowly missing one of the few other cars foolish enough to be out on the road at all.

5) Traveling to or from Pennsic with Eowyn. Foolishly, I did this more than once. Warrior Bus Lines was a scary thing to experience, but Eowyn's driving turned out to be scarier.

It's now been over a decade since I've felt that sharp adrenaline sting of "I could DIE here!" Can't say as I miss it.

1. Go here.
2. Pass it on.
( my answers )