In conjunction with my niece's 17th birthday, we celebrated Labor Day a bit unconventionally this year: family repelling.
I was relegated to Official Photographer because I have a slight aversion to jumping off cliffs to certain death the thought of my butt in a harness is not far from me wearing a thong at the beach they didn't trust me. After hiking down a
craggy, bear-riddled forest path, I remained stationed at the foot of the cliff for most of the day.
Occasionally, hikers would pass by. A family of five happened upon my path when their precocious four-year-old looked up to see one of My People spider- manning and bunnyhopping down the mountain. Eyes sparkling and voice dancing, she hinted "I wish I could do that!" Her mom answered her un-question, "Not this time, honey." This was about the time the Little was right in front of me.
I grinned and feeding her fantasy said, "If you did that (pointing at my kid suspended in mid-air), it would almost be like flying…."
Nodding, the Little explained, "Oh, I've already tried to fly. I broke my arm."
Before I could say a word, her mother chimed, "It's true," herding her pack along the way.
As the Little wistfully looked over her shoulder at my rapeller still dangling like an ornament on a Christmas tree sky, she tripped over a rock, fell down and shrieked the way only four-year-olds can. Her parents scooped her up and brushed off dirt and tears, in a way that suggested this wasn't a daily routine…but more like hourly.
Something tells me Little Miss and the ER are going to become much too well acquainted over the next few years…. ;).
All I did was climb on the roof of the school this morning to shoot pictures of the kids, so this would definitely be way out of my comfort zone.
Kids and ERs…ah, the memories. And the grey hair I added to my parents’ heads.
Great shooting, btw. Made me a little dizzy!
🙂
I think rapelling sounds like fun, but you make a good point with the harness/butt thing. Yeah, if I go, no photographer on the bottom. All photographers shoot from above!
When I was 4, my brother convinced me that if I held a black feather, a la Dumbo, I could walk off the garage roof and fly. Now I know that what I needed was pixie dust!