Riding the SkyWheel Alone

October 12, 2018June 14, 2021 katbernhardt@mac.com

It sounded like a good idea from the ground. Then I moved higher, completely enclosed, but swaying ever so slightly, eventually suspended 187 feet over Myrtle Beach. Alone in a glass enclosed gondola.

I’m afraid of heights, but that doesn’t stop me from climbing up Mont Saint-Michel or 408 steep stone steps to the Citadelle de Dinant. I just have to be prepared to problem solve the panic should it set in. I went on the London Eye with Dan, Crystal and Jossalyn without a qualm and I figured this was a similar situation. Enclosed. I could do this and see the beautiful Atlantic beach from high above.

It was the being alone in the gondola I realized as soon as the door closed and the carriage began to move. Apparently, having other people to see behaving calmly helps a person afraid of heights. This time, it was only me.

Only me. Those words had been on my mind since it became clear that Dan and I were quickly headed in different directions, at least for a while. The thought of starting out in Santa Fe, either finding an interesting job, or starting a photography studio for Dan’s images, or both, filled me with both excitement and terror. As someone who loves to travel, especially in Europe, I also felt disappointed that I would not get to go with him overseas. In a month, it would be only me.

As the SkyWheel headed toward the top, I realized that the panic was more extreme than I’d experienced before. As they closed the doors, the gondola attendants indicated an emergency button on the ceiling that I could push if I needed to get off early. It wouldn’t really help. I’d still be going around at least once.

Problem solve, I told myself.

I put the camera up to my face and focused through the lens. The distancing gave me balance. As the SkyWheel went around five or six times, I found that I could take it as long as I continuously made photographs once the gondola got to a certain height and returned again to that similar height around the other side. I took a camera break at the bottom.

I’m disappointed, excited, and terrified about Santa Fe. I’ll be problem solving. Maybe I’ll take a lot of photographs.

Riding the SkyWheel looked like a good idea from a distance.

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina from the SkyWheel.

The Myrtle Beach Boardwalk.

Walking along the Myrtle Beach Boardwalk, Dan and I saw this neon beaming through a window and we stopped stunned. Is this the place where Dan made the photograph for the “24 Runs Wins Choice” image transfer twenty years ago or more?

Yes, it was. The clientele had aged some. And the number of runs was higher by 4.

This is Dan’s “24 Runs Wins Choice” image transfer. I’m amazed at how much is the same when I compare the seats, the games, the lettering, the sign, even the color of the paint.

In 2006, I wrote a poem to accompany the image transfer.