L'appel du vide.
Do you ever have that funny idea crawl into the back of your head, insidious, only to present itself fully-formed and intentional, that death is only a breath away? I don't look at cliffs anymore while I'm driving. All I see is a slight twitch and a long fall. Standing at the edge of a skyscraper's observation deck, the only thought that consumes me is how easy it would be to just step off into open space. Straddling a rock at the edge of a torrent, I lean forward as if to gauge how minute is the distance between my perch and certain death.
The call of the void.
Yeah, this has happened to me, usually when traversing Highway 24 between Nashville and Chattanooga, specifically when rolling down the graded bit past Monteagle, and then I'm like, "Self, you know that already, cool it."
ReplyDeleteAlso, bridges sometimes. I have not yet driven over the Bay Bridge, because that sucker is ridiculously tall and the water far below. It's not the height that frets me but the potential of falling.
But I try to not let that interfere too much with my life, however.
I feel you on that bit at Monteagle. It's not just steep, but very fast going down, and the curve at the bottom is troubling for a lot of reasons.
ReplyDelete