Bungee!

I have a Pedro-likes-thrills category because Pedro likes activities that get his heart pumping. I like that too, up to a point. Bungee is a no for me. I jumped once with a group of Air Force friends, from a hot air balloon over Colorado Springs, Colorado in 1991. I was terrified and had my eyes squeezed shut, a death grip on the rope, and held my body in a fetal position the whole time, till I stopped bouncing. I was screaming loud enough for people in Denver to hear me.

I dug through some albums and found photo evidence of myself at age 21, jumping 165 feet out of a perfectly good hot air balloon.

I kept my eyes tightly shut the entire time and didn’t open them again until I had stopped bouncing. After I jumped, they switched bungee cords, then everyone else jumped. With adrenalin pumping, we then all went out for breakfast. After breakfast, two hours after my jump, my hands were STILL shaking. I told myself, “Well, I did it. I never have to do it again.”

Pedro, on the other hand, loves bungee jumping. He said his first was from a mechanical platform that had been raised over his home town when he was 17. He was hooked for life.

He didn’t give me a specific number of experiences, but it sounds like he prefers to bungee as often as he can. He uses it as therapy. You see, Pedro’s personality is calm, collected, responsible. He thoughtfully addresses each thing and then responds with care. His #1 goal is to take care of the people he loves, #2 is to take care of the people depending on him, #3 is to take care of himself. He can have a hard time seeing the difference between self-sacrifice, and just doing his job. With an outsider’s perspective, it seems like it serves him to be calm so that at any moment he will be ready for whatever comes.

The one area where he does let loose is humor. He’s a super funny guy, lobbing quiet one-line zingers that catch me completely off guard because it’s not the usual. We laugh together a lot.

There are so many kinds of emotions that need to be expressed other than humor and stoicism. I let it out often. Too often. I cry or giggle with barely a millisecond of forethought, which can be embarrassing. Pedro uses bungee jumping to get his heartrate up and experience a thrill, experience fear, experience wonder, inhibition, and joy during a freefall that he simply isn’t able to feel day to day. Maybe he’s experiencing grief, anger, and regret too – who knows? I’m not him. Bungee jumping makes Pedro feel better.

He had told me a lot of this, and also told me how frustrating it has been that the pandemic closed the nearest bungee company for two years. I was instantly on board when a couple weeks ago he suggested we go jump off a bridge in Amboy, Washington. I declined to join him, but said I would do anything to support his jump.

A couple weekends ago we did it. We went to a place somewhat near my house. A company called Bungee Masters, Inc. owns a 200-foot-high (61 m) bridge (the road is no longer in use) and people jump 190 feet (58 m) off the bridge.

When you look at the photos, look at the expressions on his face. So, so, so, so worth it. I want this man to jump off a bridge once a month, actually.

It was a warm, gorgeous day and there were lots of people waiting on the bridge with us. The company hosts jumps all year long, but their busier season is in the warm and dry months. We chatted with others while waiting our turn, and that helped pass the time. I took photos of some birds that circled high above us, riding the currents.

Since Pedro had jumped before, he was allowed to do a more advanced jump. The one you see above, where he ran and leapt off a ramp. The bungee cord is attached on the other side of the bridge, so when he jumped, he swung beneath the bridge, and bounced on the other side. When he leapt, I took the photos, then ran across the bridge and looked over the edge to see him appear. Just like Pooh and Piglet did with the sticks.

The guides dropped a cable for Pedro to attach to his gear once he stopped bouncing. They used a winch to haul him back up. Then he was on a platform on the other side of the bridge. This is the platform where all the new people are required to jump from. From this platform, Pedro hurled himself backward for a second jump.

Most of the new people jumped once, but there is an option to jump twice for a big discount on the second jump. It’s easy for the company to let you jump a second time, because you’re already all hooked up and standing on the platform after your first jump. Pedro knew in advance he would want to jump twice.

While waiting for our turn, I had taken photos of a different group and offered to share my photos with them. In return they took videos of Pedro and shared those with us. So kind. They also took this one: