I was no match for the Fireball
A trip to the local amusement park left me in a cold sweat, begging for the world to stop spinning, much to the amusement of my nieces and nephew.
The second half of life is chock full of reminders that we are not as hardy, as formidable as we once were.
Perhaps it is a creaky back. Maybe a sore knee that must be iced down with frozen vegetables after a game of basketball or it could be a once-pleasant hike now leaves you sore and exhausted the next day.
Well for me, it was the Fireball.
This is a ride at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, an amusement park that consists of a fantastic wooden roller-coaster and a bunch of glorified carnival rides. It was part of a family trip as I spent last week in Santa Cruz with my brother and his daughter, Beatrice Henri, as well as my sister and her kids, John Riley and Myla Blue. It was the first time we’d all been together since the pandemic started, and it was an absolutely awesome week. We sent to the beach where I carried Myla Blue on my back through waves. Casey led an art session where we all used watercolors on Friday and had a beachside camp fire that night with out cousin Jamie.
On Wednesday, went to the Boardwalk, which is pretty mellow as far as amusement parks go. There are carnival games, lots of food options and there is no general admission. You can choose to pay for only the rides you go on. Now, my brother and sister, being normal adults, saw this as an opportunity to pick and choose which attractions they’d go on like the log ride, which we did twice, and the Giant Dipper, which is the aforementioned wooden roller-coaster that is the fifth-oldest in the country.
Me, being a decidedly abnormal adult, decided that I would be getting an all-day pass and going on everything my nephew and nieces did. This is not out of character for me. As a childless 47-year-old, I have not only accepted but embellished my role as the slightly crazed uncle.