The Tree and the Tramp

When I was a slightly younger boy than I am today I used to live on the trampoline.  I loved it.  Jumping, flipping, spinning, wrestling, flipping some more, it was simply great fun.  My cousins served as inspiration and I wanted to do the tricks they were doing.  They are a few years older and I definitely thought they were the coolest and still think they are the coolest.  There is something about a trampoline and living on the edge.  It was always against the rules to climb on the roof and jump off onto the trampoline but somehow I would find myself doing that anyways.  Naturally it started off with things a little lower like fences.  They were easier to situate the trampoline next to and didn't raise too much suspicion from the folks.  I had only one negative encounter jumping off of roofs onto the tramp and that was at a soccer friends house in Sandy.  We were hanging out and decided that it would be fun to jump off the roof and it was.  We had a ladder set up in the front of the house and we would get on the roof, climb over to the back yard and then launch off the roof land on our butts on the tramp and go flying back up in the air.  Well, all was good until I landed a little funny, lost control and flew backwards.  The momentum spun me backwards and I ended up landing head first on the trampoline frame.  We never told anyone about this little accident because we didn't want to get in trouble.  I am fairly certain I had to have been concussed as I was pretty out of it.  At the same time we were some tough boys and decided that a bit of liquid refreshment would help.  We actually called it think drink.  I remember that clearly.  It was really just water that was in an orange Gott cooler for the soccer team.  Oh well, by calling it think drink it gave us special powers that regular water couldn't.  At least that is what we told ourselves.  Soon enough we were back on the roof and jumping off onto the trampoline again.  Great times never to be forgotten. 

Anyways, I thought about this story yesterday evening when I came home to find that the kids had relocated the trampoline so that they could jump off the tree and onto it.  I watched as they climbed and jumped.  There landing was very much controlled and they were not launching themselves back up in the air.  I talked to them about moving the trampoline away from the tree and Andy was ready to come and string me up.  I shared with them a story of the dangers of a trampoline and I cautioned them to always be careful.  The tramp is still next to the tree.  Moving it will prove fruitless as they want to jump out of the tree and onto the tramp.  I can move it and they will move it back.  At least I would have when I was a kid.  My hope is that the excitement of the tree and the tramp will fade and it will no longer be an issue.  That fading process did not happen today.  Shortly after I got home Jack was putting on a demonstration from quite a high branch.  Pretty impressive.  Then there was a small accident as he jumped again and while landing he smashed his face into his knee.  That slowed him a bit and I thought it would discourage future jumps.  It did not.  I didn't even offer him think drink before he was outside and ready to go.