Busch Gardens, Williamsburg, VA - September 2, 2006

I am not fond of heights, and would certainly never consider myself an adrenaline junkie and yet I love, love a good roller coaster. There's something about the initial incline followed by that first, terrifying, near-vertical drop that just makes me ridiculously happy, and I don't totally understand why. Perhaps I find it oddly comforting to hurl myself head-long in the face of my fear of heights in a manner that I know, deep down, is totally safe, proving to myself on some level that I will not be ruled by that which frightens me and can conquer them if I so desire.

At least, that's how the fourth-grader in the seat next to me explained it.