joyful2beeblogs

We all have unusual experiences to share that make our lives more interesting and unique. Those events help make us who we are and give us stories to share with others too.

The following are five of my most unique adventures but there will be more! I would enjoy hearing some from you all, if you want to, write some of your most unique experiences in the comments.

Life Threatening First Experience

My first unique experience came when I was about 5. I wanted to see what it felt like to be hung like the bad guys in the TV westerns. My plan failed when I didn’t know that clothesline stretched and I could not reach the swing with my foot when I felt the panic rising. My younger sister got my mother there just in the nick of time. Sometimes I think this helped make me the weird person I am today. Poor Moma! For the full story see: https://joyful2beeblogs.com/2019/02/15/my-poor-guardian-angels/

A Flight Like No Other

My second unusual experience came when I was 16. My father, who was an experienced pilot, took me up in a sail plane! The glider was towed into the sky to a  proper altitude by a small airplane, then was released to glide and swoop like a bird with no engine roaring in my ears! To be high above the ground with no engine sounds or power made me feel the way a bird must feel.

The scenery was somehow even more beautiful and moving in the silence of this airplane. Surprisingly I was not afraid because I knew my dad had flown these many times before. What an amazing experience!

 A Sleepover in a Governor’s Mansion

My third event. a unique opportunity, as opposed to a life threatening one, occurred when I was 17; on a family trip to Mexico; in a travel trailer; with no air conditioning; and in the middle of summer. On the way to Mexico we stopped in Mississippi for the night. My father had served in the Army Air Force with a friend, who later became the Governor of Mississippi: Governor John Bell Williams.

So my father called him to say hello. The governor immediately sent a limo with his daughter to pick up my sister, brother and I. My parents decided to stay at the camp site with my youngest sister for the night.

We kids spent the night in the governor’s mansion. Dawn and I had a lot of fun visiting with the governor’s teenage daughter, Kelly. I think his son was there and showed our brother around. In the morning we were reunited with our parents and little sister and were served breakfast with the Governor. What an unique adventure that was!!

On the back row: Dawn is on the left, Kelly in the middle and I am on the right. Seated: The Governor on the left, my parents on the right with my youngest sister, Betty. (Don’t know why my brother wasn’t there.)

An Untimely Snow in An Untimely Place

A friend and I went to Pamlico Sound on the coast of North Carolina at the end of February in 2016. We heard it might snow but figured it wouldn’t be much to worry about since, after all… it was the beach!

Well it started snowing and snowing… finally there was about 1/4 inch of snow which froze over night. I know because I slipped on it the next morning! I couldn’t stay away from the window; watching the flakes flying around on the sand; and then walking away; and saying, “I can’t believe it is snowing at the beach. This is amazing!!”

The Ostrich Won

My last rarely witnessed event (and something I bet few if any have witnessed) was an encounter between a very young giraffe and an adult ostrich. The Asheboro Zoo had an area for the giraffes, zebras and ostriches. I actually photographed as a young giraffe curiously, and evidently disrespectfully, approached an ostrich. As the giraffe approached with parents watching from behind trees, the ostrich fluffed out its wings and dashed at the poor youngster.

The tall young giraffe changed its course to veer away from this monstrous, loud creature but kept his eyes on it! After the perceived threat was gone as the baby changed its attention to some branches nearby, the ostrich marched quite proudly away from the giraffe with head held high. I was in picture taking mode and had no way of knowing what was about to take place. To keep from missing anything, I kept taking photos of the action between the two of them.

There are of course so many other experiences from a 70 year-old life that I will have to share more another time. But these were some of the most interesting ones.