I have only shared the story about almost dying in a lightning storm to a few people.
Of these few people I have only told one or two the full, full story. My friends have been encouraging me to share also the bad experiences of my journey. Its not easy to share this stuff. Its far easier to tell about the wonderful times and the great things that happen to me. Brenda has pointed out to me however, this is equally my life and I needn’t hide it or be afraid of being honest.
This particular story goes right to the heart of several towering fears of mine. Its taken me months to write and post this. But here we go.
Its not all blue sky cycling around the world. Sometimes there are storms. Literally.
I had been cycling for several days along a beautiful forested trail in rural Pensilvania. I had been camping easily at ready-made forest campsites for the last few days. Camping is fun, but I was getting bored with plain-old campsites. As dusk fell, I was feeling up for something a little more… adventurous.
That is when I crossed the suspension bridge. Beneath, a gorgeous river coursed through the hills. Down below I spotted a beautiful shoreline. Perfect! I followed a trail that the kayakers used and made my way down.
And, there it was:
A flat rock about the size of my tent about three or four feet out into the flow of the river. WOW! I thought: “I can camp in the river! Now that would be adventurous!”
Indeed, the rock was the perfect size for the footprint of my tent. As I went about setting it up however, my intuition began to buzz: “Russell! This is a BAD idea! Stop!!!” I can remember my uncanny sense of unease to this day.
I looked around at the gorgeous evening. The sun was setting. The river flowed peacefully beside me. I had the coolest camp spot ever. What could go wrong?
Once my tent was up, I cracked opened a beer and got my dinner cooking. It was then, that I felt the first drop of rain.
And then the next. And the next. The drops began to fall faster and faster. The breeze turned into a wind. Before I was even finished my beer I was in a storm.
I dashed into the sanctuary of my tent as the downpour increased. Thunder rumbled nearby. Massive black clouds moved in and the evening sunset was plunged into darkness.
The storm turned into a torrential downpour. The wind into a gale. Lightning began to flicker all around me. Thunder crashed everywhere. My unpegged tent was being assaulted on all sides. I could do nothing but huddle in my sleeping bag as the river began to rage around my little island rock. It was an eery bubble of very fragile comfort in the storm. There was so much lightning now that it was more often blue outside than dark and the thunder was now just a continuous series of crashes).
As I lay there I counted the ways that I could die: First the lightning would hit me. Second, the wind would cast my tent into the water. Third, the river would flood and it plummet me hopelessly wrapped in my tent into the water.
Was I ready to die? Russell, how do you feel about your impending demise?
Looking back on this rather intense moment in the face of death I feel convinced that the first thoughts that hit me, I need to deeply honour. I felt I wasn’t ready to go. I felt I needed to complete my 1Mandala project. And, I felt I needed to experience a triadic relationship. I felt I need to experience a bigger and more open experience of love. This is what came to my mind! I asked the universe to help me get through this.
As you can tell by me blogging about this, the universe did indeed help me. A little too much actually. A kayaker passing on the bridge had spotted me. He called the park rangers. After the storm was settling down, just as my heart rate was returning to normal, there was a voice out side. The rangers ticketed me for dangerous camping! I couldn’t beleive it. I still have a ticket and court date outstanding in the US because it was impossible for me to pay given my traveling situation!
Far more importantly, in the face of death I found my dreams. And… I am living them.
