Skating on Thin Ice

It rained on the lake the night before, turning the ice to glass.

At age 15, I sneaked outside at midnight and skated alone on thin ice. Skating in the glittering path of the full moon, I felt exhilarated by speed, danger and exquisite beauty.

“Craack!” the ice shrieked beneath my feet. Long cracks fanned across the ice. Nobody knew where I was.

“I’m lightweight,” I thought and skated faster. It occurred to me that if I fell in, my dead body would wash up in the Spring, maybe never.

Quickly I skated to the shore and made my way around the lake to home. Never told a soul until age 35.

“Don’t tell me that NOW!” my mother gasped, horrified.

one day, you can read the book

They certainly do...

Especially when tequila is involved

I love adventure stories.

I Stood in a Rainbow, August 1976

I met two other hikers who stood in a rainbow high in the mountains during a rainstorm. People don’t believe them either. Men lecture me on refracted light, and insist it is impossible.

At age 23, I was backpacking on Mt. Shuksan near Mt. Baker. We camped above the tree line at around 8,000' elevation. That evening we saw the sunset behind Vancouver Island, British Columbia.

The next day a massive storm blew in. Hail piled up like snowdrifts, washing ptarmigan birds downhill. ("PEEP! Peep... peep... pe...." ) Lightning struck around us. ("Here, you hold my ice axe." ) Pouring rain soaked us to the skin. The sun shone in a nearby valley.

And we stood in a rainbow. We could see the rainbow colors on each other's faces. I stuck out my arms and marveled at the colors on my arms. It only lasted a minute or two. We were not high. My hiking partner was a medical doctor.

Afterwards the sun steamed our backs as we slogged our way to the car.

This was a PEAK EXPERIENCE of my life.

And sometimes, you can tell your kids about them without getting Gibbs-slapped - or so theory has it.