BIRD'S EYE VIEW -JM QO/AIL Have you ever seen a salman that foughit its way upstream ta lay eggs? They have missing scales and gouges and they generally look pretty ragged because of thie fight involved swimiming upstream through rapids and over rocks. Thiat's how 1 looked last weekend although I camne throughi it a littie better thaji my buddv Jack. I talked Jack and a few other friends into, taking a crack at tie rapids. When we gat there rnost of themi chickened BUYNOW & SAVE We must make room for our new Magnavox modiels! Enjoy tremendous savings on a variety of our Magnavox f loor samples, demonstrators and prior models (Color TV .. . Stereo ..-. Portables . . . Radios . . . Tape Recorders . . . and Component Systems ) - some in original factory-sealed cartons! FULL $4 No Down Payment No Payments *for 6 woeeks Immediate Delivery We servie what we self, by Our own technician Special Sunday Hours Swîdoy 12 floofl f 6 p.mn. (for viewing only) Open Weekdoys 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sotw'days Mi 6 p.m. 3Q6 King St. Wu OSHAWA 7284211 ouIt and accused me of being Ioaded. To make mnatters worse the water level had dropped ,a foot and the rocks were more easily seen and seenied ta stick up even more than ever. Because I dragged everybody thiere 1 had ta go down the 'rapids first ta canvince themn that even With the lower water level it was still passible ta survive the shoot. 1 I mst admit I hiad second thoughts myself as I edged into the slîghtly cooler water. I kept getting visions5 of coliding with a rock and being swept dawnstream neyer more ta be seen. When you first go in you have ta be careful ta stand in the water in just the right place be- cause the cLrrent is s0 fast it will sweep you righit off your feet and yau'll wind up shaoting the rapids too close ta shore. The result would be getting swept over the rocks for sure. As 1 was standing there finding the right spot ta lauinchi myself in 1 naticed the water was con- siderably faster than on previaus outings and I also noticed everybody on shore watchîng me and taking bets with themselves as ta whether I would chicken aut or go ahead with the disaster. Withi a jaunty wave I threw myself in, straighitened out and rode withi the turbulence. I came throughi witliout a scratch or a bump and after a vigorous swim back ta the shore I sauntered up ta the gang and said, "Who's next?" Jack decided maybe it wasn't as bad as it looked sa hie figured hie wuld give it the old col- lege try. 1 thoughit that was peculiar because Jack has neyer been ta college but you hiad ta give hlm credit for the effort. Jack hiad neyer attempted a rapid shoot without a boat before so the fast water caughit himi off guard andcl al of a sudden lie flew throughi the air and went ini face first. It looked like ane of those dives yau see off the cliffs of Acapulco. The difference between Acapulco and Washiago is ,aboLit 25 feet of water. At Washiago the depthi is no more than three feet. As Jack wcnt in 1 winced. His wife scrcamied. 1 crossed miy fingers and sa'nie of miy tocs. After a few breathless seconds Jack's head appeared fromi out of the foami. He was not smil- îng but lie made it! Whien le swami back 1 asked WFIIT13Y FRIE PRESS, TTHURSDAY, SE,,PTEMI-'R 21, 1972, PAGE' 3 hlm about the rocks. He said there shouldn't be any more problem with the rocks because lie knew where every rock was in the rapids. 1 couldn't figure out how lie knew when 1 stili wasn 't sure and then Jack explained that hie knew because lie was dragged over ail of them. Jack looked like the salmon. His inate did not look happy at the achievemnent and 1 got a look. After a couple of trips down the, rapids 1 figured it would be safer ta go up to the two bridges and jump off them for a while. That's where 1 got my lumps. We dove off the small bridge for a while but because it is only about ten feet above the water we decided ta try the other bridge where the main highway crosses the river. The top span of the other bridge is about 30 feet above the water. It doesn't appear too bad when you look at it fromn the lower bridge but when you stand on that span 30 feet above the water, it looks like a mile. My biggest fear was hitting the water fiat. 1 was afraid I miglit tilt while falling and 1 wasn't sure how straight ta jump because 1 had neyer at- tempted the top span before. There was ane yaung guy with me who had neyer jumped from that span and another who hadn't tried it for a few years. Each of us said that if the other did it we would. We ail hoped the other guys would chicken out but then ane smart aleck did jump. 1 silently cursed him but figured if the re- maining two of us chickened out it-wouldn't look too bad. Wouldn't you know it the other rat fink jurnped and that Ieft me up there alone with a group of friends watching from the other bridge. I can't remember falling through the air for as long a time as that jump. Unfortunately 1 for- got ta point my toes and keep my arms in sa I1 hit the water flat-footed and arms flailjWg. 1 can't re- member if I screamed or not. I think I was toa scared ta open my mouth. And that's why I occasionally yelled 'ouch' for a couple of days la-ter whenever I. walked over a sharp stone. My feet were just a littie tender but I was left with ane thought, 'Where do I go from here?' Anybody frat o t Acapulco?