DID YOU KNOW†that dogs are naturally acrophobic?
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Apparently, Scout Maxi is an exception. † This young Pitbull got a taste of the Flying Fox, a regular attraction in Boy Scout camps, and enjoyed it to the hilt. †After his “Flying Fox” experience, Scout Maxi went on to do the “Australian Rappel.”
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IT’S NOT THE TITLE of my new movie. 
It is the first and most important lesson in rapelling. †And it’s a lesson I learned on October 18 when, for the first time, I tried this high-adrenalin and heart-pumping activity.
My friends at the Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP) were teaching young kids how to rapel and, knowing that I haven’t tried it yet, invited me to join the fun.
There are people who can talk faster than they †can think. †Apparently I am one of them, unfortunately.
And before I realize what I got myself into it was already too late for me to back out. †The only way for me to escape the 30+ feet rooftop of the BSP National Office is to rapel down its outer wall. †And, thank goodness, I did.
The “breakthrough moment” in rapelling is that split second when you are about to let go and lean back on nothing but air. †You have to trust your rapelling instructor, your equipment, and fate itself (that nothing will go wrong). †
As soon as you’ve let go, you’ve done it! †The trip to the bottom is still exhilirating, but 80 percent of the thrill and anxiety are already gone.†
Now wait a minute… there’s more to rapelling than that. †So far what I have tried is just the basic rapelling maneuver, i.e. rapelling with my back facing below. †My next objective is to do the “Australian” and then the “Alpine.” †I am not really sure yet what these maneuvers are, actually. †I sort of just heard about them. †But I am sure they’ll be a lot of fun.
Here’s the view from down below:
And here’s the view from the top:
Let the Kab Scouts go first…
And the Senior Scouts next.
And then it was my turn…
I’VE BEEN BLOGGING about our exploits in the Delbros AB Normal Club without really explaining what the club is about. About two weeks ago I got an e-mail from a reader asking what “AB Normal” means. “Do I mean ‘abnormal’?” she asked.
This blog entry is my reply to her and to all of those who are wondering what “AB Normal” means.
Yes of course “AB Normal” is a word play on “abnormal” to imply “beyond normal” or “extraordinary.” Thus, an “AB Normal activity” is something that people do not do or try on a normal day and under normal circumstances. Think mountaineering, extreme trail riding, wall climbing, rappelling, scuba diving. I am sure you get the drift. Oh, exotic gastronomical adventures count, too.
BTW, the “AB” in AB Normal means…
…Adventurous Bunch
…Acting Brave
…Audacious Boys (and Babes)
…Astonishing Beings
…Awesome Bosses
…All of d’Bove
The Delbros AB Normal Club is an informal group made up of people with more or less the same appetite for adventure. That range of appetite puts together the mere curious to the outright crazy.
The Club was founded by Jose Eduardo C. Delgado (JED), President and Chief Executive Officer of Delbros, Inc. It does not have a formal membership roster. Anybody who joins an AB Normal activity becomes a member regardless if he/she is connected with Delbros or not. There are those who participate in just a single activity and there are those who join in each and every one.
The Club’s name has a story behind it. JED said he coined it from a dialog in the 1974 hilarious spoof movie “Young Frankenstein.”
I haven’t seen the movie so I did some research. Here is what I got:
In the movie, the main character, young brain surgeon and med-school professor, Dr. Frederick Frankenstein (played by actor Gene Wilder) instructed Igor (Marty Feldman), his assistant with a shifting hunchback, to steal the brain of Hans Delbruck, a “scientist and saint.” But as it turned out Igor mistakenly gave him the brain of a woman named “Abby Normal.” Dr. Frankenstein hysterical reaction was, “Are you saying that I put an abnormal brain into a seven-and-a-half-foot-long, 54 inch-wide gorilla?”
That must be it, right?
At present the Delbros AB Normal Club is on a hiatus. The rainy season precluded any hopes for more mountains to climb. We did three between March and May, and we barely escaped disaster on the last one. We played hide-and-seek with typhoon Cosme during our caper in Mt. Timbak in the middle of Benguet.
That’s the end of mountaineering season for us for this year. Or at least till th rainy season is over. We AB Normal club members maybe crazy but we are not reckless. Okay, okay, maybe just a little bit.
But I’ll wager my aging and abused PalmOne Treo that the Delbros AB Normal Club will all of a sudden spring back into action just when nobody is expecting it. When it happens you’ll definitely read all about it in this blog. #
