10: Personal Narrative

“Jacob if you can make this putt then you set the course record”
“Shh Nathan I know that. Let me concentrate here. Ughh! How am I supposed to do this when the wind is blowing so hard in my face. The ball won’t even stay still. Why does the wind have to blow so hard?”
“What do you expect you’re on a boat”
“I’m on a boat? Wait a minute what’s happening. Oh that’s right this is a cruise ship not a golf course. Can you tell the captain to stop moving so I can beat this miniature golf hole real quick?”
“Even if that were possible why would I do it when we’ll be stopping in Mexico in five minutes?”
“Holy cow I am way too deep into this whole golfer mindset. We were supposed to show up at like one in the afternoon. It can’t be later than nine or ten right.” Sure enough my watch said 12:55. We were pulling in right on time. The smell of the breeze brought a familiar feeling to me. It put me back on the beaches of California with the sun drenching my skin just as the water did to my swimsuit. The sand in my toes sent a feeling of warmth up through my spine radiating to the rest of my body. That breeze, although so familiar to me, brought a sense of new adventure. I was crossing the boundaries of my world and taking a trip to the another land, something I had never done before. There was excitement in that air. One could play soccer or fly a kite or go parasailing… “Parasailing?”
“What” you could tell that the rest of my conversation wasn’t with Nathan by the look on his face. “What are you talking about?”
“Over there. That’s either a huge kite with something lifelike dangling from it, or a man parasailing”
“Huh lets give it a shot I think that’s where we’re going once we get off the ship. That looks like a ton of fun.”
“I don’t know man I made sure I would not get too tall because I am afraid of heights.” Ok maybe that’s an exaggeration but I really do have a problem with heights and anything that appears to be too risky.
“Come on Jake when you get back home from your cruise to Mexico what are you going to tell your friends that you did? Play miniature golf?”

As we got off the ship we decided to find the beach where we saw the parasailing and see how much it would cost. Along the way we were forced to find out how much everything else in Mexico could cost us as well. The natives had realized that there was a good profit in American tourism. The constant hustle and bustle looked more like a war zone than a shopping center. The enemy seller was in constant battle over the prices of the good. When it seemed like the seller had finally given into a price that was low enough for the buyer the battle ceased and the buyer had won. It seemed though that no matter how many battles the buyer won they were losing more and more in the war. No matter how much money each person saved on individual items they always ended up using all of their money and therefore allowed the seller to win.
Once free from this madness we walked through the shacks full of delicious treats. To a pair of teenage boys this was the hardest part of the whole trek to the beach. The smell of fresh tortillas and steak filled the air and surrounded our nostrils until we could no longer stand it. Our option was to run past or buy something to satisfy the hunger that had spontaneously showed up. We realized though that our sandals couldn’t carry us fast enough to flee from that aroma.
Nathan started the flood gates: “Jake I have to get something”
“I’m glad you were thinking what I was thinking” As we proceeded to buy the food we realized that what we had been calling traditional Mexican food back in the states was not actually that. Nothing seemed to compare to the tacos we got at that little shack. “Ok Nate let’s get out of here before we get hungry for more.”
“Good point we need to have enough money to do the parasailing.”
O joy that’s right we need to get to parasailing. I was not excited for this at all. How was I going to pull off going in the air when I wasn’t even happy with being on a roof or a bridge for that matter?

Oh the beach was so nice to be on. The waves curled on top of each other wrestling to see which one could get to shore first. As one would get out enough the strength of a new wave would pull it back in. The fight was never won and the race went on and on and would keep going for eternity if it had to.
“Wow you wouldn’t believe it is the middle of November right now” Nathan observed “I’m sure in Idaho its getting close to snowing soon” Idaho, Nathan’s home state could not compare to this place even in its prime. As a matter of fact California couldn’t compare either. The only water in California that you can find that is warmer than the ocean here is in my shower. “Okay Jake let’s get over to the parasailing”
“How about we enjoy this water first” I figured that if I were to die up there I could at least spend my last moments in paradise first. Can’t a man have such a thing in life? “I’m not ready yet.”
“Oh so you’re scared Jake. That makes sense you never liked roller coasters either. You have to do it man this is part of manhood.”
“Hah boy don’t even try to lecture me on manhood. Don’t forget I am six months older than you. By the way I’m not scared I just don’t want to go yet. We just got to the beach so I’m going to enjoy it for a bit.” At this point my mom was walking over to the guy running the parasailing boat and asked how much it cost. Soon enough my mom was strapping up to go flying up in the air. My fate is sealed. If I were to chicken out at this point I would never hear the end of it. One time we had a skunk in our garage and she took the initiative for getting it out because I was scared of it and I am still hearing about that one. “Ok Nate let’s go” Nathan, being the kind cousin that he is, felt that I should go right after my mom.
The man put the straps on to get me set to go. He went on about the rules and told me what I needed to know to get back down safely afterwards. Although I should have been listening to him I couldn’t tell you one thing he said. All I could think about was how the ground beneath me would soon be replaced by the sky above me.
“Good luck Jake” The look on Nathan’s face showed just how happy he was to see me sweating this one out. The wind was extra powerful ready to take over when I went into his territory. As the boat went off I braced for the explosion of power that would thrust me up into the atmosphere. The boat started pulling and I ran a bit and let the parachute take its turn.
The next twenty seconds consisted of liftoff which was the best adrenaline rush of the whole thing. Once I got to the peak of the flight I was content to just sit and watch the world below me. As I looked down the biggest shock was that my feet were dangling from so high up. The fear of heights just drained from my frame as I took in the beauty of the landscape. The mountains near the coast showed signs of life as the trees moved and swayed in the wind. The ocean below was a clear blue and each rock and fish could be seen. The wind that started all of this was settling and I could just sit in peace. The cares of the world and the fears that I had were left on the ground as I ascended into the sky.