Once in a Lifetime
Maybe I can make a difference in the world, or at least my very small part of the world. Last night my niece videotaped me telling travel stories about following orangutans in Borneo, riding a camel across the Thar Desert, and hitting a target with a blowgun in an Amazon jungle. I like to tell the blowgun story because the experience taught me never to pass up something that may only come once in a lifetime.
The headman of a village was demonstrating to our group how a blowgun is used. He inserted a small dart into the long hollow tube, placed his mouth around the other end and blew with a great gust of air. The dart flew true and into a target that had been placed high in a tree. He offered to let the rest of us have a try. Several macho young men in the group were first to step forward. One after the other they tried to hit the target and failed. Then some of the women gave it a try and also failed. I hung back. I had been extremely sick while in Peru and hesitated to put my mouth on the blowgun that was being passed from one person to another. But I watched and thought I knew why no one was hitting the target. Finally I decided to give it a try. How many times in my life would I get a chance to use a blowgun? I stepped forward, inserted the dart, put the end of the blowgun in my mouth, took aim at a point slightly above the target, and blew hard. The dart flew on the curved trajectory I had suspected was the secret to success, and found its mark in the middle of the target. The guys were chagrined, the women amazed, and I just whooped with joy. The headman smiled. But the point is that I almost lost that chance to have this memorable moment in my life.
When my sister Judy called this evening to say that she and my niece had gotten home safely, she explained why they were a little later than expected. “Remember the story about the blowgun that you told last night? Well, we were driving past Boulevard Park and realized that we had missed walking on the boardwalk this week. So we parked the car and took that beautiful walk out and back.” Granted it wasn’t some grand adventure in a foreign land, but Judy and Tamara have the right idea. Don’t hold back and don’t wait for another day that may never come. (Earlier in the week they had “on-the-spur-of-the-moment” driven across the border to Vancouver and back, just to say they had done it. Way to go!)
... PLM
The headman of a village was demonstrating to our group how a blowgun is used. He inserted a small dart into the long hollow tube, placed his mouth around the other end and blew with a great gust of air. The dart flew true and into a target that had been placed high in a tree. He offered to let the rest of us have a try. Several macho young men in the group were first to step forward. One after the other they tried to hit the target and failed. Then some of the women gave it a try and also failed. I hung back. I had been extremely sick while in Peru and hesitated to put my mouth on the blowgun that was being passed from one person to another. But I watched and thought I knew why no one was hitting the target. Finally I decided to give it a try. How many times in my life would I get a chance to use a blowgun? I stepped forward, inserted the dart, put the end of the blowgun in my mouth, took aim at a point slightly above the target, and blew hard. The dart flew on the curved trajectory I had suspected was the secret to success, and found its mark in the middle of the target. The guys were chagrined, the women amazed, and I just whooped with joy. The headman smiled. But the point is that I almost lost that chance to have this memorable moment in my life.
When my sister Judy called this evening to say that she and my niece had gotten home safely, she explained why they were a little later than expected. “Remember the story about the blowgun that you told last night? Well, we were driving past Boulevard Park and realized that we had missed walking on the boardwalk this week. So we parked the car and took that beautiful walk out and back.” Granted it wasn’t some grand adventure in a foreign land, but Judy and Tamara have the right idea. Don’t hold back and don’t wait for another day that may never come. (Earlier in the week they had “on-the-spur-of-the-moment” driven across the border to Vancouver and back, just to say they had done it. Way to go!)
... PLM
posted by Looking for Hope | 6:42 PM
1 Comments:
My Mother died 2 years ago today and she told me many stories and adventures from her youth. I am trying to write them into a journal for my grandsons and their children. What a gift.
Doc's Girl
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