Monday, August 25, 2008

We went to the Marshfield Fair Sunday and E and I went on the ride named Freakout. It is merely a steel rod swinging from one end with a rotating piece on the free end. There are sixteen seats around the perimeter of the rotating end in groups of four. The floor drops from under the seats before it starts to swing and it begins gently and then gets a boost that causes it to swing to about 4 o clock. The rod is 43 feet long and the end with the people on it swings up to 73 feet off the ground. I remember the height, the fall with the air rushing around me, and the centrifugal force. There was a feeling of being in the grip of a powerful mechanical force and a terrifying free fall. It was like being in an out of control airplane about to crash. And for the first time I experience the feel of a fall from a great height. E seemed to be not at all phased by the whole thing.

No comments: