When I was a fifth or sixth grader, I went to Arnold's Park on Lake Okoboji. They are still famous for their roller coaster, but back in the Fifties, there was also a wonderful fun house, with a huge wooden slide and a large wooden barrel. The barrel lay on its side and rotated, not very fast as I recall. If you walked at an angle against the rotation, it was possible to traverse the length standing up.
But if you went down, regaining your feet was almost impossible. You were tumbled this way and that, an old pair of overalls in a washing machine. By the time you emerged, you were battered, bruised, and soundly defeated. The barrel still exists but is no longer in use because of liability issues.
With the completion of my five hour stint in 95 degree heat at our church food stand at the county fair yesterday, I feel like I am out of the barrel, at least for awhile. This past month, the barrel of life threw at me: short but potentially dangerous hospital visits for three immediate family members, a pile of volunteer responsibilities, a garden-turned-jungle in the recent rains, several large repair expenses, and a school reunion--not my own.
Maybe I'll go try the slide--that's all downhill.
But if you went down, regaining your feet was almost impossible. You were tumbled this way and that, an old pair of overalls in a washing machine. By the time you emerged, you were battered, bruised, and soundly defeated. The barrel still exists but is no longer in use because of liability issues.
With the completion of my five hour stint in 95 degree heat at our church food stand at the county fair yesterday, I feel like I am out of the barrel, at least for awhile. This past month, the barrel of life threw at me: short but potentially dangerous hospital visits for three immediate family members, a pile of volunteer responsibilities, a garden-turned-jungle in the recent rains, several large repair expenses, and a school reunion--not my own.
Maybe I'll go try the slide--that's all downhill.
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