Is This You? Extreme Anything

When I think of extremes, the first thing that comes to my mind is weather. I have an aversion to extreme weather. Too hot is over 100 for one day, maybe I can go two days. Too cold is minus anything. Minus 30 below zero is on the verge of insanity. But. Yes, a blue and frozen “but.” I have experienced -30 and even close to -40. My other half and I built our shop one February when it was -30. I was young, much younger then. And apparently not as smart as I hope I am now. Today, I would say, “No way,” So extreme weather is not new to me.

Another extreme that might be something we have all done and have not learned from it. That is too much dinner. Think Thanksgiving. After I realized that I don’t have to have some of everything, I found that extreme full tummy doesn’t happen. Well, not as often as it did. Again, when I was younger. Why in the world does it take so long for me to learn the lesson of too much? It’s because, thankfully, I live in the land of plenty. 

Extremes are alive and well concerning too much sun, too. Summer and I have yet to see anyone who hasn’t gotten just a bit too much sun on one of those first long-awaited sunny days. Oh, sunburns. I know, I know. How awful the sun can be to the largest organ of the body, our skin. In that hurry to get a lovely brown glow before anyone sees the bright, eye-popping whites of those legs and arms, I seem to always get pink first. I am learning, though. Like that Thanksgiving dinner, I now pick and choose when to go out. You would think after the year I laid out with my sister at Lake Tahoe all day and then glowed in the dark for weeks that I would not go into the sun between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., as suggested by all the professional skin doctors. I think this year I am finally there. Except on the 4^th of July. So much fun goes on in Eureka that we all seem to go home just as rosy as a shy girl who just got her first kiss. Sweet, yes. But. Yes, a pink glow-in-the-dark “but.” We, okay I, I need to not let Mr. Sunshine bubble my skin until it peels. Well, there’s a visual we have all seen at one time or another. Is there anyone who hasn’t over the years, tried to get the biggest section of peeled skin from a sunburn off an arm or other body part? Come on now. I would bet more have done that than those who have not. Moving on.

A documentary I watched once was about how long people have sat and played video games. Holy Cats and Kittens, Batman. Some people sit for days and play. Only getting up to take a trip for personal relief or to answer the door and pay the pizza delivery guy. Other than Pong for about ten minutes when it came out in 1972, I have never played a video game. That doesn’t mean I haven’t binged in other areas. I watched the entire saga of “Lonesome Dove” one weekend. It was sooooo good I just couldn’t stop. Well, I did stop to change the videotapes in the VCR.

How do poker players play for the hours they do? The money just keeps changing hands until one guy outlasts everyone else. Finally, going “all in” and wins or busts. As long as someone keeps delivering liquid libations, the play continues. 

We are a population of extremes. There have always been daredevils. The most notable, I would guess, would be Evil Knievel. Now, though, there are extreme sports. Where people who have an adrenaline leak in their airbags will take a shot at anything. Can you imagine taking a helicopter to the top of a mountain so that you can snowboard down the face of said mountain? A face that is no less than straight down? Going over 150 miles per hour in a cigarette boat until the bow flies up, the boat does a half nelson coming back to land in the water keel side up?

I wouldn’t change any of the extremes of my life: racing cars, driving in a demolition derby, skydiving, and going on the biggest roller coaster or double Ferris wheel. Mine may not be the same as taking the highest ski jump at the Olympics. Then again, in a regular life, we have our own extremes that are just extreme enough. 

Go for it. Safely.

Trina lives in Diamond Valley, north of Eureka, Nevada. She loves to hear from readers. Email her at [email protected]

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