So, basically I have nothing to talk about today. I hate my boss and I hate my job, but on the upside I did have a delicious homemade dinner with a good friend after a shattastic day at work so, can I really complain?
Probably not.
Seeing as I really have nothing to talk about, but I'm still trying desperately to catch up on my bloging this week, I guess I'll just tell a story about something crazy that happened to me. My sister and I were talking about this a little while back because she had seen everything that I had laid out for my trip to Sweden. I guess a little background info would be helpful. Pretty much every summer since I can remember, my parents have taken the family on a two week summer vacation to one or more of the fifty states to fulfill my dad's goal of visiting all 50. We pretty much covered most of the East, West, and MidWest, but we still have the South and far far West (think Cali, Oregon, and Washington) not to mention our two satellite states to go. Anyways, nine times out of ten we go hiking. Because my mom loves it. And, I quite enjoy it too, until it gets to the 14th day and all we've done is hike, attracts mosquitoes, and accumulate a revolting amount of B.O. The last trip we went on was two summers ago and we went to Acadia in Maine.
Holy shit.
I have been to the Smokey Mts, Yellowstone, and pretty much every mt range in Colorado, hiking here, there, and every where, but I have never been anywhere as breath-taking as Maine. I absolutely love it. I'm totally enamored. I love the rain, and I have always wanted to visit the ocean. It drizzled every day with a healthy helping of mist and it was beautiful. Some of the greatest trails I have ever hiked (for novice hikers, and the exception being Grandfather Mt in Colorado...). Seriously, if you're an American this should be on your bucket list. When we got to the ocean I literally barreled into the water and licked my soaked finger tips. Lo and behold it was salty! Needless to say we wasted a good half an hour messing around in the freezing water with our hiking clothes on. I know, win.
Now, despite that most of these trips are pretty fun, I wouldn't say they get your adrenaline pumping. Hell, I can only really say that there have been two incidences where I've felt overwhelmingly exhilarated. First, was when I rolled my car, and that was more of a "Save me Jesus!" type of exhilarating. This time, Christ, this was the type of exhilarating that reminds you why you're alive.
Because you're probably going to die.
So here's the story (finally). We were camped out for lunch on this craggy rock face, watching a small storm roll in. It was basically a weather temper tantrum to be honest. At any rate, the place where we stopped was just breath-taking. Absolutely astounding. The gray cliffs tumbled into the sea in a mess of chunky boulders stacked on top of one another and the sea-foam crested waves sloshed up onto the rocks furthest down. Being the adventurer without a thought that I am, I decided to ignore the posted signs and hike down the sloping cliff face seeing as it was maybe 30 feet to the water front. Huge waves, maybe ten feet, were beginning to crash into the rocks, but the place I had my eye on pretty much looked like a fortress face, well guarded from the powerful, though slow-rolling, waves. It was, a perfect perch, complete with a small shelf to shove the soles of my shoes into for a better grip. My sisters, enthused by my daring actions, decided to join me when they saw the great, up-close and personal view I was getting.
Yeah, I know, we were pretty damned retarded (Basically, like those tourists in Yellowstone who see a bear and hop out of their car to creep closer for a better picture). Idiots.
Despite the fact that the waves had been steadily coming in for several minutes, facing directly at my fortress wall mind you, by the time my sisters climbed down and secured themselves, the waters had smoothed out and the waves receded. What was that about a calm before the storm? The water levels dipping before the tsunami came? Way to use your common sense Holly.
By the time the first wave hit us, we totally were caught off guard. We saw it coming to us, swelling up to a height of eight to ten feet, but unlike the other waves before it, this one was coming in fast. It slammed into the rock barrier and white spray exploded around us. My sister Paige, the one with the greatest survival instincts, was out before the second wave hit. My other sister Sarah and I laughed it off and waited for the next one to come in, whooping and cheering the whole damned time. The second wave hits same as the first but the third one, hell if it isn't the charm. This one is massive. I mean fucking huge. It crashes over the rock wall, completely engulfing my sister and myself. I dig my heels into the foothold and cling on for dear life as the ten panicky seconds pass by.When the wave recedes, I immediately look to my side only to see my sister isn't there. Holy fucking hell. I turn around, frantic as to where she is only to see that shes been thrown into the wall behind us (our rock fortress was shaped like a "U") looking shocked as a cat that's fallen into the fish tank. My dad is screaming "Get the hell out of there! You idiots!" For once in her life, Sarah listens to my dad and scrambles out of there (great side note, Paige was laughing her ass off the entire time...lol). It is too late for me however, the next wave is already speeding towards me and I didn't really want to get hit while running. Making sure Sar is up by the others safely, I ram my feet into the footholds and cling to the rock for dear life. And fucking hell does the water hit me fast. All I can feel is it slamming into my body, suffocating my and doing it's damndest to forcibly remove me from my secured place on the rock. Literally it's like a freight train ramming into me at a hundred miles an hour. And it felt like for fucking ever that I was being pummeled by this wave, way longer than the first two. Hell, I remember that I even had time to scream at myself not to let go because I thought I was going to be ripped away from the rock face and thrown out to sea. Finally, finally, a thousand years later, the pressure lets up, and I'm literally up to my shoulders in water before the wave is pulled back out. And man did I get out of there faster than hell on wings. Never ran so fast in my entire life.
Never had so much fun in my entire life.
Bet that the feeling I had the day out on the rocks was the same that Jones felt during his missions. Cripes, probably every day of his life. The creepy thing is, despite my dad's horror and the fact that my mom almost ripped us a new one, my sisters and I were laughing hysterically at the fun of it, not realizing how close to death we really were. According to my dad, the next week a few tourists decided to pull our same trick and one of them ended up dead, slammed into the rocks and dragged out to sea. Jesus. (Condolences.) Poor bastard. That ladies and gents, is why you shouldn't be an idiot like I am, especially when you're life is at stake. Even if it is fun as fuck...too bad life ain't the movies huh?
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