Mysterious Sounds,Synchronicity and the Hokey Pokey

The River Aare in Swizerland.






The following story is an editing of a letter I wrote to my daughter Ammba. Read it as though it was wriiten to you when you were 10 years old. I've searched and can only find these photos of the river. Riding the current has become a sport there. Yesterday was Harry and Sally’s wedding. It was very nice. Everyone was dressed up in what Geraldine calls"your Sunday go to meeting clothes."and your papi was wearing his light blue linen suit. Hold on to your chair because what I'm about to tell you may shock you.Tammy and I danced now as soon as you stop giggling I'll continue. .... are you done yet? ... how about now?... now? O.K. it wasn't that funny. So as I was saying we danced and talked and met lots of new people. The man I was sitting next to was from Switzerland, it's a country bordering the country shaped like a boot.That's right Italy. We talked, I told him as a child I used to go to Switzerland every summer. I stayed in a town called Ascona. Chris ( The man sitting next to me ) gets all excited and says he loves Ascona and asks when was I there? I tell him when I was 12 years old and he tells me he was there too that year and in the summer. So we were both in this small little town at the same time. So imagine this 35 years ago a 12 year old boy from New York was in Ascona Switzerland and this 22 year old guy was there too. We could have been sitting at the same cafe or passed each other in the street. He knows where I stayed a place called Casa Wolfgang a group of little houses overlooking Lago Maggiore. We talked about lots of things and he tells me about a place called Bern, the town he grew up in.Bern is a town with a river that moves really fast!I told him I jumped off the bridge and went flying down the river. When we arrived there were all these boys and girls jumping off this bridge and their heads bobbing up and down as they flew by. I asked if I could do it, papa ulos said no and so did Geraldine. Well while they were unpacking I snuck out of the hotel and walked down to the river and watched. Kid after kid jumped in flying in the current and got out on ladders that were built on the sides. I go up to the bridge and look over and the kids say something to me in german. I had no idea what they said, one kid spoke english and told me you have to be a really good swimmer or else you won't make it to the side with the ladders or if you miss the ladders you will go into this iron grate that feeds the electric turbine and get chopped up. I go back to the hotel and tell geraldine and papa ulos that its perfectly safe and not to worry everyone is doing it. They agree and tell me to be carefull. Now my heart is pounding in my chest as I go to the bridge.This might be a very stupid thing to do. Oh well,only one way to find out.I climb up, look down and realize its higher than I thought it was and all the big kids push me back down and shake their finger at me no no little boy and laugh.By this time both my parents had found me on the bridge. I yell to papa ulos and geraldine from the bridge to watch. I climb up and without looking jump as hard as I can up and out, put my hands and legs together and fall for what seems like forever, yelling "GERONIMO!!!" Well I finally hit the water which is dark brown and wavy from the current. Splash! I go down , down, down and everything gets really dark! Now I start to wonder ,oh god, what have I done. I am going to be in such trouble, I lied to my parents and now I am going to drown. Yikes!! I start to swim up and up and up my lungs start to burn, finally I see the surface and other bodies are flying by. I hear this really weird sound underwater like sticks breaking but really loud snap! snap! snap! What the heck is that? Well my head pops up and In am in heaven I made it and I can swim fine. So I enjoy the ride and watch ladder after ladder go by then I see a sign in german DIE GAHFER!! in red with an electric lightning bolt. I think to myself "what did they say about the end?" O.K., I was flying down the Aare river ( thats its name the Aare river) when I saw the danger sign. My heart started beating faster than a horse running at full speed. Clipety clop clipity clop boom boom!!Now I remember what that boy said"if you miss the ladders you will go into this iron grate that feeds the electric turbine and get chopped up." I was having such a good time I almost forgot these little details. I started swimming as fast as I could to the side with the ladders. The water was moving even faster now. I swam with every ounce of strength I had. My arms started to burn then my legs I could barely lift my arms or kick anymore when I reached out and grabbed for the ladder I was going so fast my fingers slipped off. There was 1 more ladder till the gate. I turned around and started swimming against the current, but close to the side I grabbed the last ladder with both hands and hung in the water like a flag waving in the wind. Huffing to catch my breath, after about 5 minutes I climbed out and sat down by the side of the river and just stared. I walked down to where the danger sign was and saw the was a big drop into metal and churning water. I guess I would have died. Wow! I started to walk back to the bridge feeling incredible. I beat death and I am here to tell the story. Oh Crap!! If I tell my dad or geraldine they will never let me jump off that bridge again. I guess I have to keep this little adventure to myself. Maybe I'll tell my kids about it when I grow up. I wonder if I will have kids, and what if they are like me? Well I guess that would be cool, I could play with them. What if it's a girl? Yuck! Now I have something else to worry about.So after about a 20min walk, I saw geraldine on the other side of the river . I yelled hey Ma !! Did you you see that? She shook her head no!! No! how could she not have seen that? It was the coolest thing in the world. Oh well, I guess I could go again, but start swimming to the ladder sooner, a lot sooner. So I walked back up to the bridge and got in line with the other kids. I felt very brave, I was the youngest there. So that's what I did all afternoon.I jumped over and over again untill it got dark. I must have jump and flew about 15 times. Every time it was the same, splash, darkness, swim to the top and hear the loud snap, snap of something cracking. I never knew what caused that sound. Well all the kids went home and so did I. I was freezing and wet walking back to the hotel. I got there and took a shower, my stomach started to hurt and I felt like throwing up. I know this feeling, I'm getting sick. I wasn't hungry and started to get a fever. As the night went on I got sicker and sicker untill I was throwing up and shaking with fever. My dad called down to the front desk to ask for a doctor. There was a knock on the door. The doctor came in and they talked in german for about 10 min. I wonder if I'll get a lollypop.Wow! It sounds so cool to hear another language and my dad can speak it. My mom is the smart one , but why can't she speak other languages? Does that mean my dad is smarter? Who cares they're both brainiac know it alls. My dad told me the doctor was here to examine me. This very tall thin man with a big gray bushy mustache bends down and says "Augchelly blachkten spechtrinfunkel" ( thats made up , not really german) I look at my dad, he says stick out your tongue, I think ,at who? I do he sticks a pop sickle stick down my throat til I gag. "Huchen nicker bocker nugen"! I figure he wants me to stay still.See I am wiggling all over the place and usually unc is there to take care of me. He tells my dad something in german and he answers. My dad tells me to lie on my side and take down my pants. Uh oh!! I know what this is, something's going up my butt, probably a thermometer. After he takes my temperature. He says " hiken minkleblakentispock nokelguggen hittchen tinkle." Uh oh! That sounds really bad! I say with my voice raising "DAAAD"? what did he say? He sits down besides me and puts his hand on my leg and say softly Jody, the doctor says you need a shot because your body isn't used to the bacteria from the river water. You probably swallowed a lot today with jumping off the bridge.(I'm shouting this) A SHOT!!!! NO FLIPPEN WAY MAN THAT DUDE ANINT STICKEN ANYTHING IN ME ANYMORE OR I'M GOING TO TELL UNC. YOU HEAR ME? I'M SERIOUS!!!!!!!!! I run into the bathroom and lock the door.I hear lots of talking some in german some in english. Geraldine comes to the door and says Sweety.. I interupt and say "sweety my ass" You have him stick something in you. If Unc was here this wouldn't happen.

As I was saying, I was in the bathroom and refusing to come out. After a lot of coaxing and a long distance phone call to unc I let the doctor give me a shot. It wasn't so bad. What was all the fuss about? Oh, it was me. As the doctor's leaving I say " Yo doc, thanks, no I mean Donkey Shin" He gives me a little smile and leaves. Hey! Where's my lollypop? No, better keep my mouth closed . The next day I felt fine. We were leaving to go on to the next town, so I didn't get a chance to jump in the river again and till this day I still want to do it again.If you remember , before this story started I was sitting at the table at Harry's wedding talking to Chris. We talked all day about traveling through Switzerland and all the fun things to do.I asked him "Do you know what that crackling sound underwater was?" Chris smiles and says" It's the force of the water churning the stones. They roll over each other." He then asked me if I was in AA and I said "yes.isn't everyone? As a matter of fact Harry is my sponser." He said "Oh! now I know why we were put together. I am Harry’s sponser." So that's the story of Harry and Sally’s wedding.