A HIGH DIVE INTO BARREN RIVER
Screen 1 of 4"Do you see that oak tree?" I asked.
"Which one?" Thurman replied, as we both looked at the left bank of Barren River from the nearby railroad bridge which we were walking across on our way home.
"The big one, that high one bending over the river, I said.
"Yeah, I see it," Thurman quipped. "What about it?"
"Well," I answered slowly and perhaps somewhat boastfully, "I'll do a back flip out of that tree into the river, if you will."
"You'll do what?" Thurman frowned in disbelief.
There was a moment of silence during which I mentally measured the height of that tree above the water and wondered if I had spoken too quickly, if I had challenged Thurman to do something that perhaps neither of us could do. But I had said it and decided not to back down.
"Yeah, that's right. I'll do a back flip from that highest part of the tree," I bragged.
"Man, you're crazy," Thurman exclaimed. "I'm not going to try that, and I don't believe you will, either."
Just the day before, I had returned from Camp Mammoth Cave, where I had served as a life guard for two weeks. And while I was there I had learned to do some new dives which I was anxious to show off to my friends back in Bowling Green. We were always "daring" each other to do things which some would call dangerous, others foolish or stupid, depending on their viewpoint. And since Thurman was not only my best friend but also my keenest competitor as well, I was particularly anxious to impress him.
At Camp Mammoth Cave, in addition to the usual low diving boards found at most swimming places, there was also a tall stationary tower at the edge of the deep water. Made of wood, it had one fixed platform at ten feet above the water, another one at twenty, and the highest one at thirty feet. While at camp I had learned to do a back flip into the water, first from the ten, later the twenty, and finally from the thirty-foot platform, a feat, I felt sure, the "boys back home" certainly could not perform.
As Thurman and I walked toward our homes from the railroad bridge on that day in the late 1920's, we made our plans for the next afternoon. He was to bring with him several of our friends to watch me, but he said he would not try the stunt. I'm sure he could have done it, if he wanted to, for Thurman was a fine athlete. But he chose to be a spectator that time??and perhaps wisely so. I was to do a back flip from the oak tree into the water. By that time I was so intent on trying it that I agreed to do it alone??without Thurman or anyone else "following the leader" (a phrase we often used in daring someone to try something).
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