I was sitting here in my office with my door ajar (as I always do), allowing my cats freedom to wander in and out as they wish.
I was obliviously lost in my own thoughts when out of nowhere it sounded like I was caught up in Hollywood madness as helicopters flew just above the trees like in a sequence from Red Dawn.
After hiding all my valuables and grabbing my guns (just in case the wall had been breached by bad dudes, criminals, and rapists), I realized that the incessant loud noise was now coming from just above the trees in my back yard.
There is a right of way for a major power line tract on the back edge of my property and upon figuring out that is where the action seemed to be happening, I grabbed my camera and walked briskly to the beating sound of the helicopter blades.
I stood there, perhaps 50 feet underneath them and the images below are what I managed to get of what was going on.
There isn’t enough money to pay me to hang out of a helicopter, inches from high voltage power lines. And so as I walked away after the shots, I couldn’t help but think of the mindset of the people that this type of work appeals to.
It reminded me of one of the guys I had working for us a couple of years back who had come to us from the cell tower climbing business and I remembered his stories of having lost two of his friends over the years on that job … one falling right in front of him.
So again it beggared the question of why do we take risks when life itself is such a precious commodity. These folk obviously do it for money and I hope they are compensated enough for the risk.
But there are thousands of extreme sports people who jump out of planes, bungee jump off bridges, free-climb on mountain edges, and jump the line at Burger King.
I thought about whether I could identify any other creature in the animal kingdom that takes such risks for any reason. I think of penguins who jump into sea-lion infested waters in the Antartic … but they take the risk in order to find food for their young.
I think of birds that build their nests on sheer cliff-edge rocks, but they do so in order to protect their young from predators.
Maybe there is one, but I truly can’t think of any other creature on earth that seeks exhilaration above life. Just mankind.
Then I think a little deeper and realize that this is actually a relatively recent phenomenon (as in recent centuries) and tends to be the pastime of the more affluent of our society.
And it makes me wonder if life comes too easy for some people that they assign it less value than those for whom it is a struggle.
Life and death plays out within the natural world at every moment of the day and night. And rarely is it for any reason other than sustenance or preservation.
Frankly I have arrived at the conclusion that there is an insanity gene that festers on the back of apathy towards life. It creates the illusion within some that the only way they can enjoy life is to risk it.
Life becomes for them, a self-centered activity to where they seek their own thrill above all and their viewpoint becomes inward-looking.
It’s a shame really, because if they could turn that same intensity and energy into helping their fellow man or helping the creatures that we co-inhabit the planet with, the world would be such a better place.
All it requires is less thought about ourselves and more thought about the rest of the planet. It’s as simple as that.
But clearly, insanity clouds the power of clear thought … such a shame!
