A High Dive (Cont.)
Screen 2 of 4Early the next afternoon, it became obvious that Thurman had spread the word that "'Check' (my boyhood nickname) is going to jump off the high oak tree near the State Street Bridge." For about ten or twelve boys in their mid-teens were there to watch the spectacle--most of them my friends, but a few others came, just out of curiosity, I suppose. In any case, I had an audience, and at the moment that's what I thought I wanted.
Doing a back flip from a high fixed platform--or a tree-does not require great agility or specific skill. It is more a matter of timing, I had learned at camp. All a person has to do is stand with his back to the water and then "just fall" backwards in a slow circle. Of course, the turn from a lower elevation must be made somewhat faster than from a higher one, in order for the body to make one complete turn before the feet hit the water. At the middle level, one must fall not quite so fast, and at the top level it is not necessary to jump or spring at all. I had found that at thirty feet if I just fell backwards without any initial spring, the full one-turn back flip would be completed exactly at the time I hit the water.
The height at which the back flip begins, therefore, is critical. I knew that and estimated that the limb of the oak tree from which I would jump was about thirty feet from the water in Barren River below. So as I slowly went up the tree, climbing up the vertical part and crawling along the part which curved out over the river, I was telling myself once again that all I had to do was just fall backwards, as I had done at camp several times.
As I came nearer and nearer to the place from which I was to fall, however, I began to feel that the water seemed to be farther below me than it had been at camp. At this point, I seriously considered turning around, climbing back down the tree, and calling the whole thing off. But I could not bear the thought of backing down in front of my friends. I knew they would call me "sissy" or "chicken" if I did not go through with my widely publicized plan. Besides, a few feet difference in height would not make much difference, I thought.
So on I went. When I reached the high point, everything below seemed very quiet, and that calm but yet threatening water appeared to be so far down. Perhaps it was seventy-five or even a hundred feet away, I feared. I realized all at once that never before had I been so high above water except when crossing a bridge.
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