now, this is what i get for hanging out with incredibly athletic and adventurous women...
all sorts of thoughts and regrets flashed through my mind as i climbed up the ladder and onto the trapeze jumping board, from where i could see --knees shaking, palms sweating-- the hudson river and downtown manhattan. but before i knew it, the instructor was yelling "ready, hup!" and off i was, hurtling into the sky!
now i wasn't as graceful as my friend here, but it was definitely an amazing, exhilarating experience. i've always been scared of heights (and grew up being told that if something scares you, avoid it!) so i wanted to turn and run when i realized what i was getting myself into. but i'm glad i caved into peer pressure and gave it a try.
the trapeze school of new york is on the roof of the pier 40 building on the westside highway, near houston street. one of our instructors was wearing a t-shirt saying "forget fear, worry about the addiction" -now, that is certainly not a worry for me, but i could see how some people get hooked on the adrenaline rush. my heart was pounding for hours. and the strangest thing was that afterwards, we all went to lupa for dinner and i felt like my taste buds were super sensitized. every sip of the Südtirol Weissburgunder and each bite of my duck ragu pappardelle tasted magnificent. thankful to be alive.
