Did you know he sometimes jumped with a bear (don’t know if he was asked) and he traveled with a pet fox (they were friends), that he saved the new bridge over the Passaic from falling into the gorge, that he jumped the Genesee twice and Niagara several times, that farm boys and store clerks would “do the Sam Patch” and jumped off hay lofts and over counters, and that Andrew Jackson named his favorite horse after him?

Pity he gets so little recognition at Niagara Falls today.

great line!

There is a wonderful thing that happens as you train for a first jump; everything else clears from your mind. Money woes, fractious paramours, every possible looming catastrophe all fall away, and all you think about is doing this thing perfectly. You are constantly assured that, if you do this right, everything will be fine.

All that morning, all I thought about was doing my jump perfectly. I thought of nothing else. And when I perfectly landed on the ground, hours passed before I thought again about my money woes, my fractious paramour, my looming catastrophes.

I got an “A” on my photo-essay-mostly, I think, because my professor was impressed that I had jumped right after my subject. And I went on to jump two more times, and might have jumped more, but it was pretty expensive, and I was pretty broke.

Still, there is a wonderous peace of mind that comes when you are about to do something that could end your life; when you realize that you have to REALLY focus on what’s going on HERE, AND NOW.

Don’t think I want to jump into rivers, though.