Jumping on The Bed

Like most people, I can remember jumping up and down on my bed. I remember the feeling that I was flying or maybe somehow my legs had turned to rubber and I could jump higher than anyone. I also remember getting yelled at by my mom to stop jumping on the bed.

My dad watched all kinds of sports on the TV, and one of the sports I would stay and watch was the guys and gals on the trampoline. I don’t know if it ever made it to become an Olympic sport, but just watching them do all sorts of flips and twists in the air was incredible. I understand that trampolines are used by free style skiers while they are working on aerial tricks. I guess any sport that involves spinning in the air would also involve training on trampolines.

There was a trampoline in our high school, but it mostly stayed folded up against the wall or in the equipment room collecting dust. I don’t know what the gym teachers had against the trampoline. Perhaps there was an inherent danger putting teenagers four feet off of the ground with the ability to bounce with wild abandon and no common sense or fear of heights. The few times it was brought out, the teachers managed to suck all of the fun out of what should have been the best thing we did all year. Even the kids with no athletic ability could bounce on a trampoline and for just a few minutes, they got to feel like Superman.

When I went to Florida with my parents on holiday, there was this magical place that had forty trampolines imbedded in the ground. The beauty of that was if you bounced off of your trampoline you wouldn’t have so far to fall or you might simply bounce on the next trampoline in line. FANTASTIC!!! Of course the down side was that it would cost to bounce on the trampolines and I only had so much money to spend which was spread pretty thin already. One night, we climbed the fence and had the whole place to ourselves. We jumped until we were exhausted, lay down on a trampoline and watched the Florida stars, then we would jump some more. One of the best nights of my life!

Today, I went with Aunt Maegan, Hurricane and Tornado to a place called the Flying Squirrel. I thought that the place in Florida was magical, but it pales in comparison to this place today. There were fields of trampolines, trampolines angled up the wall, trampolines in front of basketball nets, trampoline dodgeball, pits filled with foam rubber that you could dive into, swing into, tightrope walk into and of course trampoline into. There was also an obstacle course which although pretty dangerous looking, it also looked like a lot of fun.

The boys had a ball! Aunt Maegan had a ball! I had a blast just watching them and maybe if/when I get in a little better shape I will test those trampolines out. If you have to break a leg or a hip, I can’t think of a better way. If there is one of these places in the town or city that you live in, go to have a look at the very least. Who knows, you might just get the feeling you had as a little kid jumping on the bed.