Well, today was the day. Woke up. Left to go get coffee. Came home, and it hit me... TRAPEZE TIME! OH SNAP! I was late. Printed my tickets. Put on workout pants. Left the house. Drove as calm as possible. Arrived at the Emerald City of Trapeze. Ran inside. Instantly, I was admiring this huge space of net and random wires above my head. I looked at the steal plank in the middle of the room high up. "It's not that high" I told myself. Only 30 feet-ish!
The lady at the front desk got me all set with permission slips and "if you die it's not our problem" papers... I signed them with a huge smile on my face and the look of... "I have no idea what I'm in for" attitude. (Oh, I had no idea that I was going to freak and squeal like the tiny lil girl I know is inside of me) At that moment, the Lady asked me to join another innocent victim on the stretching mat. I bounced my way over. We were all introduced to the calm smiling instructor. I began to stretch my arms and role my shoulders anticipating the strain of doing crazy stunts. My attention was then captured by an amazing Trapeze artist swinging gracefully back and forth on the bar and landing perfectly on the net. His body was at ease and completely under control. He didn't even have a harness on. Unbelievable! He gracefully did a flip off the net and introduced himself.
The instructor showed us the proper way to have our hands on the bar and described our first "trick". I was thinking... "i just started this, he thinks I can do what on my first time?" ha.ha. He buckled up the girl to climb a 25 foot ladder and off she went following all of the commands as if she had already knew what to do. A graceful flip off the net finished her 15 seconds of fame. *GULP* Now my turn. I climbed up the ladder which started to shake nervously >_>. Got up to the platform, grabbed this taped wire and was given more instructions with the trapeze guy who i saw when I walked in. He talked me through things, corrected my posture, and belted me to lines which were controlled by my instructor below. At this point i was feeling sick and just wanted to get down. The experienced trapeze man behind me holding me tightly, said, "ready.... hep!" (which means to bend your knees and hop off the platform)... apparently that's the way to go... oddly enough I just stood there... (hahaha.) Trapped in myself I couldn't find the guts to do it. He again said, "ready...(i bent my knees)... hep!" (still didn't go) I laughed to reduce stress and said in my head "I'm not going to think about it, I am just going to hop and see what happens." Finally, after his command, I hopped into the non existing pressures of atoms. Soaring through the air feeling the weight of my body being taken through an automatic course dismissed all my anxiety about climbing the ladder and hanging my toes off the platform. There was nothing under me but the safety net, the feeling of freedom was not only amazing but indescribable. I felt extremely calm. I decided no to do any tricks for my first few jumps. I glided back and forth just hanging there. My instructor told me to do 3 quick kicks which, I did into a backflip landing on the safety net. :D I was sooooo nervous for having the best time of my life! I grabbed the net and gracefully flipped over. Feeling like I could survive another one I proceeded up the ladder! >_<
For some reason, maybe the enderolin, I thought it would be fine up that high off the ground. Again, I was nervous. Each time it got easier and easier for me to climb the ladder but, once I was up there I felt sick and wanting to get down. >_>
My first trick was to pull my knees to my chest and wrap my legs around the bar, then let go of the bar... (which was fun) and put hands back, feet off the bar and flip down to the net. haha! tons of fun! but, getting to that part was the hardest part. I am not going to lie. Each time my instructor would encourage me to do even better and wouldn't push me any further than I would go! :) They told me I had GREAT FORM (pointed feet and legs together) it must be the ballet I've been taking. heehee.
After accomplishing my new awesome stunt and feeling confident they decided to have me graduate from my "training wheels" and be caught by a guy who will be swinging and catch me right as I let go of the bar and swing to the other side. >_> In my head I'm thinking "YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!! I'm having a blast JUST doing this stuff. Why would I want to exceed that?" lol. I climbed the ladder feeling disturbed and crossed. These people were looking out for me. They cared about me, right? Their just gonna sit and watch me DIIIEEEEE???? *sigh* I gulped. Grabbed the bar once again. READY...HEP! Off I went into the sky flying with ease. Wrapped my legs around the bar. Let go of the bar. Swung my hands out and there he was. All time was paused... His hands reaching out for me to grab. He seemed so far away. I didn't think he could touch me. Time played again and My fingers grabbed his. I was so close... yet, so far. :( I then proceeded with my stunt down to a flip and figured out that it was my hands that were in the wrong position! I tried 2 more times and gave up. I thought about it and basically I was happy I wasn't caught. lol I am proud of myself and knowing that I did it makes me feel accomplished! woot woot!
I came home with scrapes, bruises, and an amazing worth while story! I will be doing it again when I come back from my trip so my mom can come and take pictures! woot woot! :) maybe she'll join me!?! who knows?!
