| Monday, January 02, 2006 |
| Adventure |
To kill the boredom today, H, the boys and I trekked to the top of Bluff Mountain in Sevier County. The views were wonderful as you can see in the picture. We could easily see Sevierville, Pigeon Forge and Seymour.
 Our first stop was at the fire tower on the 3,069 ft. peak along the ridgeline. I estimated the fire tower height to be about seventy feet tall. The boys loved it! They climbed to the first level -- about 10 feet -- and stopped. Not to be out-done, I climbed to the third tier -- or about 30 feet -- and declared that I wouldn't go any farther. But Jacob climbed down and looked up from the ground and announced that I could easily get to the top because I was almost halfway there. Though, what he didn't see was his dad's sweaty palms and weak knees. I waved him off and came up with some lame excuse to cover my newfound fear of high places (What's happened to me?).
We dawdled around the base of the fire tower for a while and explored the surrounding area, but Jacob kept glancing at the top of the tower. With confidence, he suddenly announced that he was going to go to the top -- with or without me. Oh, no: a tough decision! I couldn't admit weakness and let my 9-year-old climb to the top alone. His mother wouldn't stand for it and I definitely couldn't crush his Wild-at-Heart spirit. So, I gulped and nodded (Again, what's happened to me?).
On the way up, Jacob was practically flying. I slowed him down with a voice as fatherly as I could muster amidst the shallow breathing: "Slow down. Take your time. Wait for me. There's no need to hurry and make a mistake." It was evident that his heart was pounding, too, because within about five feet from the lookout at the top, he turned around and started back saying that it didn't look sturdy enough to carry our weight. Nonsense! I prodded him on and we reached the top!
 The wind was wicked up there, but the view was awesome. I tried to point out Seymour to him from up there, but he looked without seeing. He was bubbling with accomplishment. He was antsy to rush down and explain it to Mom. But what did that little stinker do when we reached the bottom? He said, "Let's do it again!" And, of course, we did. |
posted by Joe Napalm @ 7:20 PM   |
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| 2 Comments: |
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I distinclty remember a time when the not-so-daring Joe nearly gave his mother a coronary. When he was taking swimming lessons around the age of 9, he and two or three others in the class decided to jump off the high-dive, the kind found today only at university pools. With a stalwart determination and a warning from the instructor that there would be no backing down upon reaching the top, Joe brazenly climbed to the top, stepped confidently to the edge of the board, held his nose, and dropped. Amazing! Just another rite of passage into manhood. So Jacob passed the test, too. Makes a parent proud!
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Mom, Dad, and I went up. I was the only one to make it to the top. I, too, had to fight the urge to turn around and go down. It usually hits about the third platform!!
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I distinclty remember a time when the not-so-daring Joe nearly gave his mother a coronary. When he was taking swimming lessons around the age of 9, he and two or three others in the class decided to jump off the high-dive, the kind found today only at university pools. With a stalwart determination and a warning from the instructor that there would be no backing down upon reaching the top, Joe brazenly climbed to the top, stepped confidently to the edge of the board, held his nose, and dropped. Amazing! Just another rite of passage into manhood. So Jacob passed the test, too. Makes a parent proud!