Spectator on the Sidelines

Bicycles are some of the most harmful transportation devices ever known to the human race. My cousin got a bike for Christmas and eventually gave it to her other cousins to use at my Grandparents’ house. I had just learned how to ride a bike and had never ridden that particular bike in my life. The brakes didn’t work on it; but I still fought with the determination that I was going to ride that bike. At my grandparents’ house, there was a steep hill with several trees on each side. If I went straight down, I would have no problem of impacting the trees or the trees impacting me. If I went down in a southeast direction, I would face a significant tree that had just enough room to hold a wrecked bicycle and its rider. I started down this hill straight, but somehow moved my eyes in another direction. The bike went completely out of my control, and I landed in the middle of that tree. As my cousins were trying to pull me out of the wreckage, I had no idea how badly the tree took the incident. I later discovered that the tree had been severed nearly completely in half. Meanwhile, I only escaped with minor injuries including cuts and bruises. I have rarely ridden any bikes since that particular occurrence. Its effect has strikingly changed my life. Through this dramatic occurrence, I understood that bikes were not meant for me- neither were trees.

How much of an experience can a person have on the lake? I know I won’t forget mine. My family was at Duke Energy (the Oconee Nuclear Station) on October 3, 2009, for a Hunting and Fishing Expo. After we had visited all of the hunting sections, we ventured to the fishing area which, of course, was right at the water. They had lessons on different types of fishing, but also had an area where people could kayak. Being the adventurous people whom we are, my brother, sister, and I decided to ride in the kayaks. I put on my life jacket/vest and asked the college helper which one I should use. Ignorant of how kayaks work, I got in the one she chose which happened to be too small. As I was going along after being in the kayak for nearly 15 minutes, I suddenly tipped over. My whole body was under the lake’s surface for what seemed to be an eternity. I tried to scream for help, but I kept going under the water. Finally, the safety people came and brought me back up to the surface and eventually to the bank. The lake was freezing cold which made the event even worse. In addition to all of this experience, it was my brother and sister’s birthdays. I’m not completely over the trauma from the incident. But I learned a valuable lesson, “Don’t trust a college student as tall as you to determmine which kayak to use on Lake Keowee.”

I’ve been looking  into the files from the good ole’ days and remembering a major part of my first and second grade years. Here are some thoughts on one part of first grade..recess.

I’ve made many memories at my elementary school’s playground. I will never forget my first best friend and the fun we had. Recess was so much fun because we would play as if we were spies and people working for the government. Our code names were Code Blue (me) and Code Red (my friend). Everyday we would move from attraction to attraction conquering  the villains that were waiting for us. The biggest villain, Hamburger Hater, lived in the old McDonald’s hamburger toy. I’m not 100% sure exactly how the hamburger came to the school, but I do remember that it was the most popular toy on the playground. As each recess came and passed, we could never conquer him. He told us that the only way for us to be bigger than him was to jump from the Hamburger 3 times. One condition- we couldn’t jump feet forward; we had to jump face forward. My friend was able to do this until our teacher grabbed him and gave him a stern talking. Our teachered ordered us never to jump from the hamburger again. Because of this, we felt major defeat because we weren’t able to defeat the Hamburger Hater. We worked up the nerve for a peaceful negotiation as to some other way to conquer him. He made us run backwards in circles. Because we did this nearly every remaining recess, we  finally overcame the Hamburger Hater. Finally, the Hamburger was ours. But unbeknownst to us, there was a greater force than us inside the school. The hamburger later left us in second grade with no other explanation. But even worse than the Hamburger’s departure was that my friend left after first grade. I remember tearing up when I learned of both sad news items. Even if I were to be alone in my adventures, that left all the other attractions to conquer. Knowing that I could do it on my own made the playground all the more fun.

I remember when blogs were becoming the coolest thing to read on the internet. My first thoughts about blogs were mainly out of ignorance because I didn’t understand why someone would want to share the events of his or her everyday life for the entire world to see. I distinctly remember stating that I would never start a blog; and now anyone may see how stepping out of the boat can lead you in a different direction. You can be sure that I will try to use the least of any incorrect spellings or grammatical errors. I would like to say never, but the word is too strong for my vocabulary. Be sure to watch this blog, because I have some cool ideas. On this blog, I plan to attempt to share several insights on my life, entertainment (mostly Christian), and to cover different events as the days unfold. With that being said, this will most likely be a journal of the various activities. If you have constructive criticism to share, my blog comments are open. Happy reading!