As Good As It Gets

[wheel interested]

Ever throw your arms up and spin in wild abandonment? What are the moments where you have lost yourself in the moment? Here's hoping we all keep that ability alive and strong through all our days. What are your times of "special" exhileration, those times when you thank God just to be alive?

A few experiences that I can think of that struck me with awe were

1. Pulling over along the street after spotting a small whirlwind of leaves and running into the field to enter the vortex.

2. Following a herd of elk, climbing a hill, then lying down in a secluded grassy field of fragrant pine and brush in the sunshine of Rocky Mountian N.P.

3. Atop a bluff in Southern Illinois over the tree tops, chickadees below, birds soaring in the air, being cooled on a hot summer day.

4. Walking along the deserted shore of Saint George Island S.P. Florida towards the tip with storm clouds approaching and the water churning up. And yes I did put out my arms and spin in the wind. It was euphoric.

5. On the edge of a rocky outcropping above the waters of Superior, Hiawatha trail in Minnesota during active weather with wind and rain blowing in my face.

So many other instances are coming to mind, that special sunset like a greeting card from heaven with a prayer of thanks in return. Indeed I hope you and I have many many more! Please share some of your special moments with us.

[wheel interested]

Originally Posted by w7ts

I'm not in the mood for wistful thinking.

Ken

Apparently. That's OK, adrenaline is good. Fight or flight, jellyfish, the blob, zombies, whatever. That is also a very moving emotion........like in RUN! OMG, I keep forgetting about all those hidden critters like jellyfish, alligators, sharks. At least up North you can see a bear coming or an elk rear up in advance.

[safari62]

Originally Posted by w7ts

"I discovered I scream the same way whether I’m about to be devoured by a great white shark or if a piece of seaweed touches my foot."

As it should be. That piece of sea weed may well be one of these.

Poisonous Animals: Box jellyfish, Boxfish, Deadly sea wasp (Chironex fleckeri)

I'm not in the mood for wistful thinking.

Ken

Note to self....avoid long swims along the coast of australia.....

A few years ago, it was October, I was in upper mid coast Maine at a friends house on the coast. It was dark and we walked down to the dock and found the the bio luminesence was in full bloom. I am not much of a swimmer and even though the movie "Jaws" was thirty years ago I am still afraid to walk under a lawn sprinkler after seeing it.

But we only live once, and I thought this was my chance to somewhat resemble one of the Mavel comics super heros that light up and leave a trail of sparks while flying off (or swimming).

So off came the laundry and I climbed down the ladder and kicked off into the cold black water. I swam out quite a ways for me anyways, and the underwater light show was wild. When I did decide to stop swimming and turn around I took in the slience of the night, the light show underwater and headed back to the dock.

If I was eaten by big white it would have made for a more interesting obituary...or at least made the evening news. But my real motivation was to see the water light up while I swam. Out in the harbor looking back at the dock was one of those moments....I remember thinking I should not go too far out, but it was already too late for that.

Gary

[CaddyGrn]

One of my most wonderful experiences was the day we bought our 1963 Bambi! I had lusted after one for a long time.... I bought her on eBay, sight unseen (did see lots of pics, however...) and when we first saw her it was love at first sight!

[Lily&Me]

So hard to isolate an incident as "the very best", but one of those jump in the air and twirl around times occurred when we retired in 2007-----every time we realized we didn't have to go back to work!

Then, there's the first walk on Edisto Beach..............and on and on and on.

Life is good, can't complain.


Mggie

[Ag&Au]

My post that I deleted arose from the dead like a zombie.
Perhaps there is something to the supernatural.

I can safely say that the times I have been the happiest to be alive are those times that I was also amazed to be alive. They pretty much all involved the Navy and airplanes and sometimes mean people.

Ken

[Protagonist]

Never had one of those "twirl around in ecstasy" moments. The times when I'm most thankful to be alive have been right after narrowly avoiding a traffic accident by dumb luck as much as skill. Problem is, I'm calm as anything DURING the incident, no "Oh God I'm going to die!" moment, but after it's all over, I get the shakes so bad from all the adrenaline still coursing through my veins that I can barely stand without help.

Or the time someone stole my van. When the New Olreans Police Department told me they don't look for stolen vehicles because they have about 300 a month (back in the 90's), I took it upon myself to go find it myself. Ended up stealing it back at gunpoint the next day from the people who stole it from me! Never fired a shot, but talk about having the shakes afterward! Nothing like a classic John Woo standoff to get that adrenaline pumping! Funny thing, after that incident, I could park that van anywhere, and not have to worry about it. Even when the cars parked on both sides of it were broken into, no one messed with the van owned by the crazy man!

Possibly my happiest feel-good moments have been the day I drove my Airstream Interstate home from the dealer, and more recently the day I launched my new inflatable kayak on Bayou St. John for the first time early on a Sunday morning and watched the fish leaping out of the water to catch dragonflies.