Two adrenaline rushes in one day

August 10, 2011 | My Jottings

Yesterday I picked up my friend Kim and took her on a “surprise adventure.” At least those were the words I used when we were playing Words With Friends (Kim on her iPhone and I on my iPad) and I invited her to set aside an upcoming morning for some fun. She trusted me enough to say yes when I told her I was going to keep it a surprise; in fact, what she said was “I’m game!”  I like that about Kim.

So, I took Kim to ride the Timber Twister for the first time. And I wanted us to try our city’s newest attraction, the Timber Flyer, which is a zip line at the same place.

Little did we know that at the top of the hill where you board the zip line ride is a nice platform scale they make you step on before they allow you to ride. They want to make sure that no one exceeds the 450 pound weight limit. I am pleased to report that I did not. While standing in line it alternately rained and sunshined, and even getting wet wasn’t a deterrent to the good visiting we got to do while together.

Kim and I rode the Twister and the Flyer and we both agreed that our favorite was the Timber Twister — you can go a little faster on it, and the ride lasts longer too. I have to smile even now as I think of us two middle-aged women standing in line with all those young people so we could enjoy a little rush of adrenaline. Take it from me, when you’re in your fifties, adrenaline rushes tend to be few and far between. 🙂  I mentioned to Kim that one of my daughters doesn’t like fast rides of any kind, not because she’s afraid, but because she doesn’t like that “feeling” you get when you go extremely fast and your stomach seems to drop. Kim grinned and said, “I love that feeling!” and it just reaffirmed to me what I’ve long known — Kim is a real kindred spirit. Ever since I was a little girl I’ve loved fast rides — twirling, upside down, falling, swooshing, spinning rides — I want to try them all.

After enjoying the thrills and the views and the good conversation, we drove to our local Red Lobster and had their delicious soup and salad lunch. Kim and I talked about the mysterious ways of God and how hard it is to figure out why He sometimes does things the way He does. We agreed that He’s trustworthy and inscrutable both, but that the older we get the more we rest in one conclusion: if we love and walk with Jesus, no matter what befalls us, we’ll eventually be okay.

I have found that when you’re experiencing surges of adrenaline and satisfying conversation with an old friend, time really does fly. In what seemed like no time at all it was time to drive Kim home. We said that when we’re much older women, the memory of our adventure will bring a smile. Hopefully one with teeth.

When I arrived home I went through the mail, turned the savory-smelling roast that was cooking in the crockpot, let the dogs out, and visited with Michael. (He likes the Timber Twister almost as much as I do, and I hope someday soon he can be persuaded to try the Timber Flyer…I’ll be the one most appreciating his woots and the look on his face.)

Unbeknownst to me, another “surprise” was lurking in our bathroom that day. I carried some laundry upstairs to our room, and noticed that the toilet paper was running out in the master bath. I reached into a decorative little container we keep near the tub that has extra toilet paper rolls in it, and I saw a maroon-colored speck on the roll. It was so tiny — at first repugnant glance I thought it was a tick. We have lots of ticks here in Minnesota. But the dark red color didn’t look like a tick, and the (horrors!) pincers didn’t look like a tick. I stifled a scream and quickly tapped the creature off the toilet paper roll and onto the side of the tub where I could get a better look at it. There are not enough words to describe the inner cringe and recoiling I felt when I saw it begin to move, waving its almost-microscopic lobster-like claws around. What in the world was this? Horrible! Gross! It gave me the willies. I could even feel my face flush in reaction to something that looked so creepy. I quickly wadded up some TP, crushed it (although it was so tiny — not even an 1/8 of an inch — who knows if it survived — probably did!) and flushed it down the toilet. And then I flushed again for good measure.

I did a search to find out what dreadful little creature was clinging to our toilet paper, and it was (prepare yourself)…a pseudoscorpion. I don’t even want to utter the word. Have any of you ever seen or heard of pseudoscorpions? They’re arachnids that are in my state, in my city, in my neighborhood, on my block, and one (please God let there be only one) somehow got into my house. If you would like to verify the existence of pseudoscorpions yourself, go right ahead and google it. Don’t get too close to the screen, however.

This photo I found of someone else’s fingers and someone else’s pseudoscorpion looks exactly like what I found yesterday (you can click to enlarge if you don’t have the slightest tinge of arachnophobia.)

So there you have it. Two adrenaline rushes in one day. One welcome, planned, fun and memorable; the other uninvited, sinister, startling and loathsome.

While my adrenal glands are recovering, I’m hoping the sieve-like part of my aging brain kicks in and helps me soon forget the pseudoscorpion in our bathroom.

I’m also hoping that the part of my brain that used to hang onto memories like a steel trap (or so my mother told me) will never let me forget the wonderful and satisfying time I had yesterday with my dear friend Kim.

***Update on Saturday, August 13th***

My friend Deb took this picture of the bug she found in her house and sent it to me. I think it’s an earwig — another adrenaline-producing species.

Here’s what Deb wrote, which I thought was so funny — can you tell she’s in the medical profession? —

“Hi Julie! Look what I found in my kitchen today! Because of my quick reflexes, this specimen is now missing some essential life fluids and has some tortion of his exoskeleton plus irreversible damage to his right extremities. Straight forward movement is no longer possible for this poor bug. Yes, alas, he is destined to navigate in a circular pattern for the rest of his short life….and I do mean short! His pincers are remarkably intact however. They seem to be the strongest part of his little body.”

Thank you Deb! 🙂

Have a great week everyone,