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[at-l] How I got started

HOW I GOT STARTED.............
Well in Feb of 1946 my dad got that twinkle in his eye and my mom gave him
that sidewise glance as she bundled my older brother into his crib.  She
tried to stall dad with the headache story and.....so it goes.  She
lost....he had fun... and I won.... 9 months later.....
NO, that's not how the story goes. It goes like this.  In 1946 my mom and
dad spent a lot of time at Pine Grove Furnace State Park.  My dad was
raised in those woods.  One day they decided that the trees along Mountain
Creek were boring so he said to my "pregnant with me" mom, "Lets take a
hike to Pole Steeple"  and she took me on my first hike.  Well, I just
loved the mountains and I couldn't wait to hear them talk about  the view
of Laurel lake from the high place.  I remember sucking my premie thumb all
along the way. I felt my mom get tired and when she'd sit to rest I'd poke
her in the ribs just to keep her going. (I was the anxious one of the
three)  I bet she was glad that embryos did not carry Leki's.  I was a mean
little kid, wasn't I?  All went well till she got to the top and looked
over the edge.  I felt the adrenalin shoot through the cord right into my
little gut.  It almost made me sick.  I tried to lean way back in the
uterus to help keep her from falling but it did not allay the fear of
heights we were experiencing.  Then my dad did that fun thing all torturous
devils do and that is to push the scare-ee with one hand while grabbing and
pulling them back with the other.  What a mean thing to do to a beginning
hiker such as me. "HA, Ha, very funny, daddy", I said to myself as I
decided to come out right then and there and tell him what I thought of his
silly little game.  So there was me and mom in hard labor on the steeple. 
We did real good cause I was just chompin' at the bit to get to my dad to
repay him for his meanery.  On the last push I saw light and took advantage
of the moment and turned with one big yawl and kicked him right in the eye.
 "That'll teach you", I thought in my baby mind.   Later, my one-eyed dad
nicknamed me Leadfoot.   My mom never set foot a mountain again and my dad
left his lifelong fortune to Aerophobiacs anonymous.  I don't think I
would've come out into this world if it weren't for that trip.  It was so
cool.  And the views were great too!!  That leadfoot is now my strong
hiking leg.  Thanks, dad!
Slim   
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