The waterfall we hiked/biked to!

Put down your pencil and jump.

Adminisk8or

05/29/2023

I mean, there is just so many things this week to talk about, this blog entry could never suffice. Not that it's the busiest week I've ever had, but in a way, it's been among the most adventurous. Let's begin.

In my personal endeavors, I've had a projector that I rescued from death for probably a year now, but never looked seriously at it to see what it could do. After finding out some of the cool network capabilities of it, I then noticed it had a serial port on it. I thought, "...now what would a projector have a serial port for?" And I spent quite a few hours this week learning what it could do, and bridling that down into a manageable scope. I still haven't set it up the way I want, but in basic, that serial port can make it so I can remote control and even automate that projector using commands! Call me a straight-up nerd (and you'd be right), but that is SO cool!

My brother-in-law and I went on a bike ride this week, as well- though I use the term loosely, as we biked half of it and hiked the other half- up towards a waterfall that usually isn't very present. And where there was usually a fairly dry trickle, there was a ROARING current! We climbed up many a boulder to get to the proper base of it, and it was well worth it! But by far, the best thing this week was our late-planned vacation this weekend. In a rather fast decision at the beginning of this week, we decided to stay at an AirBNB and go to a lake and some hot springs, plus whatever we wanted to do. At first not a whole lot of family members committed to come, and few initally did come up- but we managed to rope most all of them into it, and we had quite a fun time! The house- I mean, THE HOUSE we stayed at... is just so indescribably odd, and so bizarre in so many ways, I can't even begin to describe it here. If I find the time and passion, I'll actually post a video, perhaps on it- because yes, I took a video of the whole place- and once again, IT WAS SO WEIRD. Hopefully I get around to showing that.

We also enjoyed grilling some shish-kabobs on the beach, hanging out around the weird house, swimming in a pretty cold lake, and soaking in hot springs! But by far, for me, the most adventurous and noteworthy thing this week happened at a swimming at a pool, of all things. At this particular pool, there are a number of fun feature for all ages to enjoy- a general swimming area, water slides, more waterslides, a hot tub, a kiddie playground, diving boards, and, most notably, diving platforms. I saw these platforms, and to be honest, was rather queasy at the thought of jumping off any of them, until my brother-in-law put me up to it, saying he'd do it, too. My experience, straight out of my journal, is described below:

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For the first platform, I approached the edge and thought, "Oh my gosh... what am I doing?" After probably 10-15 seconds of hesitation, I finally committed and jumped in. There was a solid 1.5 seconds of time for me to contemplate my decision as I descended towards the water below, in which I landed in just fine.

After that one, and after doing it one more time, I decided I would try the next one up. Not one thing in the world could have prepared me. I approached the edge, looked over, and saw the water far below me, like a medium sized picnic blanket laid out. It was at this point that fear REALLY began to hit. For reference, the previous platform (though I didn't know any of these measurements until afterwards) was 16 and a half feet from the water. This was a more intimidating 23. I looked over the edge, and fear just about overtook me and made me back out. My inward voice, in fact, asked, "...is this suicide?" But not wanting to look the part of the chicken, I knew I had to commit. And I DID. I jumped off that baby, and I felt an indescribable rush that probably lasted 2.5 seconds- but honestly felt like an eternity- until I finally made contact with the water. I rather enjoyed the rush and the thrill I got from that, but didn't want to retry it for a moment.

I finally was persuaded (partly by myself, partly by my brother-in-law) to make the ultimate endeavor and jump off the top platform. Being rather timid, I decided I should try the second one once more for good courage, and then put my courage on the table and do the top one. I did just that, and as I approached this top platform, I looked around, and it suddenly hit me that, unlike the other two platforms before, there was nothing over my head this time- it was just me, the sky above, and the shimmering blue pool far down below. I didn't know until afterwards, but the air standing between me and that pool was a solid 32.8 feet. Yes, I was standing at the peak Olympic distance for platform jumping. And BOY DID I FEEL IT.

I peered over the edge, saw the water below and immediately thought NO. Just NO. N.O. But I realized in that moment, if I even so much as started thinking about how far down the water was again, I would chicken out and feel like a coward ever afterward for not accepting the challenge. So, without much more thought, I shoveled all of my courage back into my gullet, and leapt from the precipice. I could swear it was a good 4-5 seconds of sheer terror that I experience, as I soared through the air, plummeting towards something I could only hope would cushion my fall from that high. But sure enough, I hit the water, and with only very little pain, I sunk in, and came back up. I was rather shocked when I heard the lifeguard whistle, and I immediately looked his way, thinking I had done something wrong. He called out, "You good, man?" to which I smiled, laughed, and gave a thumbs up- because I WAS great! It was one of the most satisfying things ever, to conquer that fear I faced! Looking back on it, had I known those measurements were the heights I was leaping from, I don't think there's any way I would've had the courage. Who knows, maybe I would've. But the fact that I did it, and THEN found out the impressive gravity of what I had accomplished, it felt all that much more rewarding!

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And there you have it, an accidental feat of amazing performance! Well, okay, if we're judging by diving form, it was awful, since I pretty much only had the guts to pencil dive most of those- except the top one, that one I hit sideways. But the experience was an invaluable teacher- and it's the same teacher that Dwight D. Eisenhower described as, "Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil and you're a thousand miles from the corn field." Namely, I better learned the difference between saying in word that I could or couldn't do something, and actually being faced with the real situation. Both study and execution are true and important viewpoints of life, and without either, we would not know how real many things in life are, and sometimes just how real they feel.

In one example, I might feel fine and might as I write about difficult things in my blogs from time to time, and think I know so much about the world around me- but until I'm put up against those demons, I should ask the almighty question- just how much do I actually know? On the other hand, a different parable is seen in this lesson, which is the one I described in my story. Sometimes we study and learn so much about a thing we began to grow afraid of it, and would rather not be put face to face with it- and this, because we don't properly understand it. Like I said in the entry, I am not very proud to admit it, but if I had known how much distance those platforms were, I probably wouldn't have invoked the courage to try it. But because I accidentally disguised my fear of these heights as a chance for a thrill, I discovered something incredible, and learned that I could do this thing that I would've thought would be near impossible for myself! When we let our fears go, and put down the pencil, so to speak, we not only learn humbling lessons that teach us more about other people, but we also learn QUITE a lot about our own selves!

But going on further about that I think would be rambling at this point. So, this week, put your pencil down (odd timing, as it's the end of the school year) and face your fears! Until next time, see ya!