2019 – Another Ride down the Fire Pole

I think of myself as different from other people, often reflected in the creative choices I make.

In the early 1970’s I built my first home in Carmel, California.

The master bedroom was a large open loft on the second floor of the house, just above the living room.  The black, freestanding fireplace and stovepipe chimney provided warmth in the winter but were hardly distinctive.  The custom-built bed was unusual, but a mattress is a mattress.  The one truly unique feature that I have never seen in another house, was a real fire pole running from the peak of the redwood ceiling down to the floor of the living room — a total of about twenty-five feet.

Did anyone actually use the pole?  You bet they did.  Almost everyone who visited the house, unless they were over seventy, gave it a try.  I piled bean-bags at the bottom, to cushion every fall.  My three young children couldn’t wait to arrive in Carmel to visit “our fire pole,” as they called it.

Of course, we established rules.

First, only one person at a time could use the fire pole.  You had to climb the open stairs up to the bedroom, then either slip through or climb over the railings to latch onto the pole.  The ride down was a lot quicker than the climb up.

Second, an adult had to be present at the bottom, preferably an adult big enough to spot the user.

Third, you had to be fully dressed and ride safely by holding on for dear life with both arms and legs – letting yourself fall slowly, not quickly.  No one was on their way to put out a real fire.

This morning, on the last day of 2018, I’ve been thinking about the screams of delight we all enjoyed, especially over the year-end holidays, riding down that pole.  And I thought, “Wouldn’t it be nice if each of us could think of every year as a ride down the fire pole?”

A ride down the fire pole was over in a matter of a few seconds.  Do the three hundred and sixty-five days in a year flash by more slowly?  Just like a ride down the fire pole, you can never be sure how each year will end.  And isn’t the purpose of each trip, on the fire pole and the year, to have a good time?

I recently sold my Carmel house. Other children will now have the opportunity to slide down the pole, just like my children, and now my grandchildren, taking their places on the fire pole of life.

For the New Year I wish you a safe ride.

I did say that “almost everyone” used the fire pole. In more than forty years I did not try the fire pole even once.

I have no regrets. But starting at midnight tonight I plan to lock my arms and legs around 2019, and fully enjoy every moment of another wild ride.

Alan