Adventure!

It may not be obvious, but this blog is hosted by WordPress.com, a website that provides free or inexpensive hosting for blogs and simple websites.Wordpress refers to itself as “a blogging community”, and structures itself so that people who blog can read and interact with each other easily.

So, at this time, I would like to introduce you to one of my neighbors in the WordPress community, Lesley Carter. I found Lesley’s blog because she read my recent post, “The Lifeguard“, and clicked the “like” button. I then received an email notifying me of the click, and providing a link to Lesley’s blog, Indulge — Travel, Adventure, and New Experiences.

Here’s Lesley:

This is also Lesley:

Lesley at repose on another continent:

Lesley, her groom, and their wedding party:

(In case you were wondering, that beach is in Jamaica. Here are some more of her wedding pictures, in case you have never seen a bride on a trapeze before. All images copyright by Lesley Carter.)

You may notice that Lesley’s feet are in contact with the ground in only one of theses pictures, and that contact is clearly not to be maintained for long. Even the picture in repose is on a perch that would scare me silly — I am terrified of heights, wouldn’t think of sitting on a bridge rail, although I would happily stand on the bridge, leaning back from the rail. Lesley’s list of adventures she has had in 2011 would make anyone feel inadequate; the skydiving, the rappelling, the swimming with dolphins, the travel.

But wait a minute … A few of Lesley’s standout experiences of 2011 are things that I have done at some point during my much longer life. I have kayaked, canoed, and sailed many times. And Lesley’s list of things she intends to do in 2012? (She calls it a bucket list, but I would quibble here; a bucket list is things you intend to do before dying) It includes numerous things that I have already done, some of them many times:

See a sunrise.
Deliver my baby girl.
See all of my immediate family.
See one Wonder of the World. (Grand Canyon.)
Ride an elephant.
Visit a new state.
Sleep on the beach.
Go whale-watching.
Volunteer for a new organization.
Go on an unplanned road trip.
Take a new class.
Host a party.
Read daily to my daughter.

You see, Lesley’s life is changing! More of her adventures for a while are going to be close to home and kind of safe. Babies do that to us. (In claiming that I have “delivered my baby” I am referring to the fact that my son was born at home, with only me as midwife.)

If you’ve been reading Something Entirely Different for awhile, it may strike you as perverse that I think of myself as timid and sheltered, the kind of older man who would envy the wild adventures of a boldly physical young person. (I’ve never been boldly physical.) Well, that’s just the way it is. We see our own weaknesses in each others’ strengths, and our strengths in others’ weaknesses, and so, our lives inspire each other. In truth, life, itself, is the great adventure.
So, in that spirit, here are a few of the adventures I have had that may inspire Lesley (or someone else) or may just inspire a little jealousy!

Arrest a bank-robber.
Save a life.
Comfort the sick and injured.
Drive a freight train.
Drive a double-decker bus in New York City.
Capsize a 30-ft sloop in the open Atlantic.
Go to Britain and drive on the left.
Bring peace to a community in fear and conflict.
Watch the perfect sunset from Cadillac Mountain in Maine.
Be the cavalry coming to the rescue!
Turn a young person away from violence and crime.
Escort a heroin addict to a rehab in another state.
Sleep in the open in the desert.
Raise a beautiful family.
Find God, or be found by God.

And here’s one that I don’t recommend for anyone, but it was an experience I wouldn’t give back:

Survive a usually-fatal cancer.

I began this post by telling you how I found Lesley’s blog; it started with her finding my blog. But how did that happen? I apply search tags to each post that allow anyone searching WordPress for subjects of interest to find my relevant blog posts. My last post, “The Lifeguard“, was tagged “parenting”, “children”, and “kids”. Lesley, being in the family way, must have searched on one of those subjects.

Unfortunately, I don’t think my post was exactly what she was looking for. I am sorry; I hope it was in some way helpful, nonetheless.

(I think I have succeeded in exorcising that demon, and will be trying to write a lighter, more upbeat blog for a while, if the people around me can manage to stay alive that long.)

So, for Lesley and anyone else who is poised to begin, about to start a family and really engage with life, get ready for a great adventure; enjoy it, be changed by it, and remember to always follow the love — it’ll be great.

I took this picture of the Eiffel Tower when I was there with my grown son in 2009 -- it is one place where Lesley's path crossed mine. (Unlike Lesley, I used the elevator, not the stairs.)