Standing here, looking over the edge, knowing I’m going to fall-jump actually-isn’t a natural feeling. Somewhere in the base of my brain, the part that says “Run!”-where the only real concern is making sure that, tomorrow, I’m still alive-my brain is telling me to go the other direction.
But there is something about summer that always makes taking chances a little more exciting. Maybe it’s all the other months spent inside, hidden from the cold whenever possible, that makes the getting out and exploring the world again more exciting.
Maybe the winter months, when getting out means going into another building, makes those summer months of getting out much more about getting out-and getting out on a ledge.
I’ve watched people, probably hundreds at this point, stand at the edge of various ledges. Little kids on the edge of the diving boards, looking over, scared, just learning to jump in the water. Older kids and adults on the edge of the 5-meter platform, some walking back down, some flying off it, looking like they believe they’ll just miss the earth below, and in a way, they’re right.
Those who walk up to the edge of the 5-meter platform, and look down, haltingly, follow a pretty predictable path. They’ll stand at the edge, getting their courage up, getting on the edge of jumping, but usually, not quite able to jump off that mental ledge-the one that keeps them from jumping off the platform.
Occasionally, they jump, but not often. They might stand there for a few minutes, and watch people run past them and fly off the edge of the platform and disappear into the watery pool below. But those are the experienced jumpers. They’ve learned. They know what’s going to happen.
The splashes come in all sizes, everything from the sucking sound of people pulling both air and water in after them, to the ubiquitous, giant plumes of water of the classic and beloved cannonball. After all but the smoothest of entries, the pool turns to chaos. Bubbles floating up, water coming down, and somewhere in that mass of churning, warm water, a person. Some hang out-as if relaxing underwater-others bop right back up so quickly, you’d think they didn’t even get their hair wet.
And then it’s out of the water, to make room for the next person. And get back in line, to do it again. I can’t entirely say why, but I know I do it too-at least on the shorter boards.
Josh Hawkins is one of the Wednesday Journal staff photographers (www.joshhawkins.com).