Although I remember living in and visiting places as diverse as Germany and Greece, some of the wildest moments I remember were when we had moved to Colorado. In those days parents didn’t worry too much about where their kids were (or at least we were allowed to be out of the house, on our bikes as long as we were back for dinner time). My brothers and I were always discovering new places.
Maybe it was more my oldest brother who made the plans and me and my younger brother followed. Whatever it was, we had good fun and we are glad that our parents didn’t know until later. One of these times was when we took our bikes to the floodway on a rainy day. A floodway in Colorado is designed for rainy days. It is meant to take the quickly rising water safely away from residential areas. Usually the floodway is simply a concrete river, empty of water. Perfect for riding your bike or skateboard or whatever.
Of course once the rain starts coming, the floodway can turn quickly into a raging river. Not too long after this adventure I heard of a classmate of mine (in Junior High) who was drowned in a floodway. But that was after our wild adventure. And we were young and unaware.
We rode our bikes to the floodway where we had often gone. This time there was a bit of water running along the bottom. The challenge was to sit in the water and then stand up. But when my younger brother sat down, he began to be swept away. We jumped in to help him stand, but one of the bikes now went in the water and started moving along the water. We were able to get everyone and everything out of the water (which was maybe 6 inches deep at the time), but it woke us up to the dangers.
In that same floodway were large pipes which took the water from the streets into the floodway. On dry days these pipes, large enough to walk in while standing, were a great challenge. Were we brave enough to walk up the pipe without a flashlight, touching the walls as we walked, perhaps touching some insect or worse? The pipe ended after a turn. If you looked back, the tiny dot of light that until then had encouraged you was suddenly gone. And now, to return, you had to walk back in complete darkness. Exciting. Adventurous.
These days our adventures mostly take us along the canal behind our house. You might think that is quite bucolic and simple. But in October the winds start and the walk along the canal becomes a risky adventure. We have frequently had parts of trees (and whole trees) fall across the pathway. We noticed this past week that there are even 6-8 trees which are marked to be removed - hopefully before they fall on some poor dog walker or jogger.
What brings adventure into your daily life? And what kinds of wild adventures have you experienced?
