Propeller-heads

For my sons' birthdays, I always try to think of something fun to do. I don't always succeed; many years I hand them a card with a check inside and take them out to dinner. My middle one, in particular, is the adventurous sort, so I decided to treat him to a helicopter ride. Since the deal included up to three people, his girlfriend and I went along too. (I'm not sure I've mentioned this before, but I am Queen of the Groupons. As I've become more experienced at "Grouponing", I've learned to watch for special sale days when an additional discount is applied to certain types of purchases. The price of the helicopter tour was already reasonable on Groupon, and I bought it on a day when an additional 20% was taken off.) None of us had been in a helicopter before, so we weren't quite sure what to expect. My son's girlfriend helped me keep it a secret for two full weeks, so even when we pulled into the airport parking lot he didn't know what was coming.

The ride was shorter than I would have liked -- a tour of downtown St. Augustine and "Porpoise Point", which I'd never heard of before. It's an inlet where the ocean comes into the river (or the intracoastal waterway; I'm never sure what's what, waterwise). Still it was a wonderful experience and the view was breathtaking. My son's girlfriend and I sat in the back so my son could have the best view, and he spent the entire time soaking it in -- as opposed to taking pictures to share later. (He and I have talked before about getting so caught up "sharing" an experience that you are fully present during the experience.) He was thrilled, and so grateful for the gift. He was especially happy that his girlfriend and I were experiencing it with him. I was a little nervous beforehand, more about losing my lunch (which was just a smoothie, but I still didn't want to leave it in the copter) than about going up in the air. Once I was up there and saw how cool everything looked, I didn't even think about being nervous.

These are the kinds of things I'm trying to do now, to find new experiences and share (not just "share") with loved ones. Last month it was driving a boat (or however you refer to that); this month it was the helicopter ride. I probably won't do something new (or at least not always something that big) every month, but I'm really enjoying this sense of being excited about new things again. Some of these activities may carry a bit of risk -- in fact, I told my students this morning after class that if they didn't see me next week they'd know why -- but in terms of improving the quality of my life, I think it's worth it. Now . . . what's next?