12 "Unusual" Experiences

I was thinking the other day about some of the unusual things I have done in my lifetime, particularly in my youth. Most of my life has been VERY conservative, very careful, and rather uneventful. But there have been times when I did things that the average person doesn't get to do. I thought it would be fun to list a few of them out. These are twelve that came to mind today, that I'm not too embarrassed to share. If anyone cares to compile a similar list, I would enjoy reading it! We all have unusual experiences---but none of us would have the same list. I think it would be fun to read YOUR list. Here's mine...

1) Age 11: I rode up a small mountain in Mexico on the back of a donkey, on the way to Cola de Caballo waterfall near Monterrey.

2) Age 15: I went traipsing through a cemetery in Mexico in the rain at night. (This was with my very brave and daring friend Melanie, whose parents were missionaries in Mexico and they lived up the road from a cemetery.) We decided to give ourselves a little spook, and we definitely did. It was really scary and really fun.

3) Age 15: I got bitten by a tick (also in Mexico) and got sick with typhus (typhoid fever). It was the sickest I've ever been and I was delirious for 2 days. I missed 2 weeks of 10th grade.

4) Age 17: I memorized Frederic Chopin’s Polonaise in A flat major. This was my biggest achievement in music.

5) Age 19: I extracted pure caffeine from tea leaves. Part of Organic Chemistry Lab in college. This is something I sometimes consider repeating at home…

6) Age 18: I bred hundreds of fruit flies- several generations- as part of Biology Lab in college. This is something I would never consider repeating at home…

7) Age 20: I came within 10 feet of moose, several times, while riding on the bike trails in Anchorage, AK.

8) Age 20: I entered a home of someone I did not know—when they were not home---to use the phone. Mark was my accomplice. We did not break and enter—we only entered (the back door was unlocked). We were “stranded” at Big Lake, Alaska when our Sea-Doo watercraft capsized and wouldn’t start. I remember praying that they did not have a dog. God answered my prayer.

9) Age 20: I walked on a glacier.

10) Age 21: I drove around on a frozen lake in winter (Lake Wasilla where Mark spent his teenage years). He taught me how to pull the emergency brake to make the vehicle spin around really suddenly on the ice. Driving on ice is a blast.

11) Age 22: I dressed up as Mrs. Clause and rode around in a horse-drawn sleigh with Mark, as part of a charity event at the airport in Anchorage. Of course, Mark was Santa. We had been married only a month, so it was really romantic and fun.

12) Age 24: Mark and I spotted a few bald eagles on the side of the road on a trip from Fairbanks to Anchorage. We pulled over to get a closer look, only to discover that there were MANY, MANY eagles nesting close together. We didn’t count them, but there were probably 75 or more eagles just perching in the trees and flying around. It was one of the most serene moments of watching wildlife in Alaska.

The End...