I have officially ended my world travels for this school year. As far as I know, I will be just in Germany until I return home in early June. I like the idea of a blog and want to keep it up, but unfortunately, because of my lack of travels, won't have as many exciting things to write about. So instead I am going to start writing life lessons that I have learned throughout my years on this planet that have helped me get to where I am now. Don't worry, I will try to keep it the serious and taciturn way you have come to know.
The sun shines through the small gap in the curtains as discreetly as an elephant in the shire. The bright light awakens me from my probably wonderful slumber. This day is going to be good despite the obtrusive light beam. The perpetual optimist in me was already hard at work. It was the weekend after my 10th birthday and I was about to try out my new bike.
Truth be told, I really don't remember how that day started, or if my tenth birthday was on a weekend or not. I do know that I did get an awesome bicycle and was keen to jump it great heights and to great distances. I do remember it was sunny, and of course, I remember how the day ended. There was a dirt track in the neighborhood but because either it was too far away to be allowed to go by myself, or because I simply didn't want to, I decided to build jumps out on the street in front of my house.
The focus that I had as I left my house with my bike was palpable. As the garage door rolled slowly open it would have slowly revealed me holding onto my bike staring straight ahead waiting to depart in a manner that would have worked well for a slow motion Chariots of Fire music video. The first step that I took with my bike in hand was comparable to Neil Armstrong's first steps on the moon, or so thought 10 year old me…probably.
I spent the day riding back and forth gradually increasing jump size and the distance of gap between the two ramps. As my confidence grew, so did the danger. It wasn't long before the jump was taller than even the highest sky scraper in the city. Granted there was only one, the bank, but it was pretty tall. I propelled myself forward with all the speed my incredibly active 10 year old self could muster. I am pretty sure before arriving at my monstrous creation, I broke the sound barrier…twice. I hurdled through the air at a remarkable trajectory. I don't remember having a lot of time, the speed of sound twice is pretty fast. I do remember wondering if I moved the other ramp, my landing ramp, far enough away. As my trajectory became more effected by gravity, I quickly found the answer to my question. No. I had neglected to move my landing ramp which means that my 700 mile an hour approach to the earth would be met flat on instead of gradual.
At ten years old I didn't understand physics very well. I learned some that day. Things like having a bike abruptly stop under you as you continue your ascent only to be stopped yourself by a fast approaching ground tend to teach you things things quickly. I don't remember how far I bounced and slid and rolled. I do remember being glad for my helmet. After standing up I felt like any of the heroes in the epics where they are bloodied and tattered but willing to fight some more. This feeling lasted just a little bit longer than a soy bean at a vegan convention. I felt as though there was no more skin left on me. And when I leaned over to pick up my bike it hit me like a wave of hammers. I proceeded to bravely run crying to my parents.
As I had said, I wanted to write about things that taught me life lessons. This one has many. But the one I want to focus on is a simple one. One that I like to use a lot. It helps me have more fun experiences more often than not. Just because you cannot do something doesn't mean you shouldn't try. This story isn't one that puts this life rule into good light. In fact I have had many experiences that would have been more relevant to this rule. But the second part of this rule would have to be something along the lines of If it looks too sketchy and you have no one to impress, then its okay to find the best way to back down dignity in check. Because really, no one actually loves going to the ER on a weekend. It's not easy walking the fine line of being adventurous and not dying. But some one has got to do it.
The bike incident remains to this day one of the single greatest losses of skin cells in a single incident I have ever had. Because it was nothing more than that I never had to go any farther than the cleaning of wounds that I got at home. My bike being only a few days old managed to live a long an happy life in my pretty destructive hands. It wasn't the last time that I would have a horrific wreck on it but it took it like a champ. As for the life lesson that I learned…it would take several more times before I really understood the art of trying something you know you will probably fail at for the sole purpose of a good story. This is why some of my experiences in Europe have been so much fun. I know things might end in a fiery crash at the bottom of the proverbial cliff, but shoot, why not climb to the top of a tall Alp peak and ski off of it. You might just have the time of your life.
