The Jump

Thirteen years ago, when we were in New Zealand, we permitted a 13 year old, jesse, to bungy jump. It was his driving ambition (to the extent someone of that age can have such a thing) and we, caught up in the moment, the so-called adults (lily and me), permitted this insanity. I recall that after our return, people whose judgment we normally trusted looked at us agog and muttered that Family Services or the ASPCA or someone in authority should know about this.

We flash forward now to 2009. alex is 22, hoping to see 23. In front of us looms the allegedly highest bungy jump on earth. this would put it at about 216 meters, or roughly the same as jumping off a 65 story building. It's located in Bloukrans along the southern coast of south africa. let me tell you, it is one thing to contemplate a jump like this, and quite another to stare into the maw of the endless descent that awaits you. yet, here we are and alex's bravado is now tinged with a trace of "oh, my god. what was I thinking?" charlie, alex's traveling buddy, who joins in on the mayhem, appears to be preternaturally calm, but admits to an elevated pulse rate.

lily and I join the two masochists as sane holdout witnesses. the jumping off point is the underside of a bridge that spans a deep-cut gorge. It is the largest bridge in south africa. to get to the jump, one must first traverse a walkway that inconveniently has only a widely spaced metal grate for a floor, so that with each passing step, if you look down, you see the increasing depths, both literal and figurative, alex and charlie are about to jump into. I unconsciously find myself holding on too much to the mesh "walls" of the walkway.

as the time arrives, alex and charlie are bound up with harnesses, braces, ropes and pads. the similarities to an execution are too numerous to ignore. with their legs bound together, they must literally hop to the precipice where they await the mercifully short countdown. alex, unconsciously grasps the sleeve of a staff member who instantly orders him in no uncertain terms to let go. alex holds his arms wide and, in his best effort to replicate a swan dive, he steps off into the nothingness. my stomach flip flops.

we watch a live video feed of his descent and hold our breath as he recoils several times with skyward bounces each time the bungy cord is fully stretched. I am aware that I am breathing again. when he is back on the bridge, his grin could not be wider. you know, the kind of grin one can only have when you feel you have cheated death.

later that day, I am introduced to a wonderful Cuban rum. I conclude that the two events are not entirely unrelated.