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Friday, September 18, 2009

ThingsThat Astound Me, Part One

I must say that I have done some pretty crazy things in my lifetime.

Not insanely crazy like my husband has done. I must say that he has done things that truly make me wonder if he isn't part cat and is on Life Seven of his nine.

The "Playing Chicken" with boats on Lake Mary where he grew up. That means you get two boats at opposite end of a large lake, head them towards each other and high-spped throttle them. I think one time they collided. Apparently, my mother in law thought this very good sport and laughed hysterically at their boating skills. Or lack thereof. Mothers were tougher when we were younger.

The homemade "Grapefruit Throwing Pipe Cannons" using real black powder mounted on said boats. You have to give them an A+ for creativity and mechanical genius. It doesn't hurt that my late father in law was a a car/plane/jet mechanic so some of that is bound to rub off.

Riding and driving anything with wheels at high rates of speed. If it has wheels, he fears it not. My only sigh of relief is that he does not own a motorcycle. Thank the Gods for small favors.

Being a Marine. Being a Marine in a bar. Being a Marine, in a bar, being challenged as to your moxie by several large, notorious motorcycle gang members. Being a Marine, in a bar, getting into fisticuffs with said Biker gang members and wrecking said bar. (To give him and his fellow Marines kudos, they came back the next day and completely repaired said bar at their own expense.)

Falling into a conduit. (Did I spell that right?) Another story.

Chasing a roadrunner. Not hazardous but very funny. He didn't know they flew! Way too many drinks and way too many Warner Brothers cartoons.

Now, I truly have to say my spousal unit has a lot of guts. Every day, he gets up, goes to work and deals with pretty much never-ending pain and discomfort. For fun and exercise, he rides his bike. He has ridden it over 140 miles in a weekend. Over hill, over dale and down valleys. I don't know how he does it. Seeing some of those hills makes me want to cry or puke. Heck, I think putting his bike on the car rack is an accomplishment (the thing weighs a ton). So yes, he astounds me and humbles me and sometimes shames me. He is pretty darn fearless.

He'll watch somebody do something insane (like hang-gliding let's say) and say, "That looks like fun. I'd do that." (In the hang-gliding case, I think he has.) If he ever gets the chance to go into outer space, wild horses will not stop him. He'll be the first one signing up for the Mars trip. He is very seldom non-plused or phased by much. Been there, done that. Sigh. Sometimes that gets my goat.

Interestingly enough, he has no desire to "jump out of a perfectly good plane." He does admit that if it's going down, you have to fight him for the parachute. I, on the other hand, have toyed with the notion.

But I digress.

So it was much to my amazement and astonishment as we were driving on the highway from Sedona (Arizona) to Flagstaff (same state) he noticed the bike lane on the highway.

Yes, Arizona has BIKE LANES on the highways. As in bicycle. The kind you pedal.

At first he thought he had misread the sign. But no, he hadn't. Our friend Aunt Judy saw them too.

"Bike lanes? Are you kidding me? On the ____ highway? No ____ way. That's insane! I wouldn't do that! No ____ way!" (Insert several cuss words).

Needless to say, I was surprised; nay, astounded. Once in a while, he displays more than a microbe of good sense.

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