If I were to explain, the reasoning would go like this. It’s good to have a vivid imagination. As an engineer, it’s essential to be able to create a mental picture of what’s happening. But there’s a downside. Looking at a situation and seeing more than is there, opens the door to imagining all sorts of scenarios that are unlikely.
I’m talking about that experience of peering over a cliff edge to see what’s there. Curiosity being a strong urge. Then pulling back in fright of falling. Often when the ground is solid and safe. Often when nothing more than a spark in the imagination creates an unreasonable fear of falling. The fleeting image I have in mind is looking down at Beachy Head Lighthouse[1].
I have a curious relationship with hights. No, I’m not terrified of heights. It’s just that now and then that fear of falling does kick in. This feeling could be embedded or learnt from an early age. My mother tells a story of me as a toddler being halfway up a ladder. Sacring her. Me being oblivious to any danger and coming to no harm. Growing up on a family farm there was innumerable hazards around every corner.
One of the riskier things was to climb up the haybarn roof. This was an open steel framed structure spanning several bays. Corrugated sheets made up its roof. In the UK, we call these buildings a Dutch barn. This mostly refers to the curved shape of the roof. From the top of the barn, it was possible to see the whole farmyard.
Last week, I hiked around the Caldera de Taburiente on La Palma. I learnt that the term caldera has Spanish origins. So, I was in the right place to assess any fear of hights that might linger in my psyche. The Caldera de Taburiente is more than 2000 m deep.
Even the roughly hewn paths, some restored from local landslides, didn’t phase me. It’s as if, because I was one of thousands who have passed the same way, the dangers where contained. In fact, there were not. Some of the well-worn slippery stones underfoot had to be approached with a great deal of caution. Loose rocks and sheer drops had to be navigated with care.
The Caldera de Taburiente National Park is a magical place. It has a Jurassic Park feel about the place. Given that it’s not much more than a few million years old the place is far to youthful for dinosaurs. It has its own special natural beauty.
My aging but persisting vivid imagination had plenty to occupy itself as we climbed and descended in and out of the park. The whole hike was about 16 km. This was the second time I’d taken this circular route. What surprised me was the hard parts of the climb and decent following a riverbed on the way out. That part I’d conveniently forgotten.
No, I’m not terrified of heights when there’s solid ground underfoot. They do however have the capacity to scare or at least summon up a lot of extra care. I hope that inbuild sense of self-preservation never fails me.
John Vincent 