2010 Special Olympics

I've never been much of a charity person, I figure you get what you work for. Observation tells me that we have a lot of people who need lifelong, constant care because of mental or physical limitations. The "only the strong survive" rule of nature doesn't apply to humans. On the one hand, I'm appalled at the way we, as caring humans, not only protect our weak, we encourage them to live 'normal' lives and even reproduce, often producing more incapacitated children. No doubt I'd feel differently if my sister or brother or child were one of them. We do love to cling to life no matter how painful it is.

All that being said, caring for these people gave me an opportunity to do something I've never done before. I got to rappel 330 feet down the side of the Sheraton Waikiki as part of a fundraiser for the Special Olympics. Hence the profile photo.

'Rappel' is probably not the right word. 'Dangle like a spider' is more appropriate. After taking a few practice drops of about 15 feet, we took the elevator to the roof. Several of my co-workers and I nervously eyed the scaffold that would launch us Over the Edge.

The view was spectacular! Diamond Head is a lot smaller than it looks in pictures, but from the roof it dominates the landscape. The young men who connected me to my lifeline were all handsome military men who assured me that the gear we were using was far superior to the junk they got in the military. With my GoPro video and other cameras strapped to my head and body, I stepped out over the void. I was dreading what I considered a Depends Moment, but once I was hanging over the drop, I never thought about it again. You can see from the look on my face in the photo that it was another great adventure to add to the scrapbook. This would prove to be a highlight of being in Hawaii.

Note to self: as you get to the lower part of the rope, it becomes very springy. A sudden stop will seriously bounce you.