memories of the mouse

Originally uploaded by _vanitY_.

I remember once going to southern California to visit my uncle. I wanted to go to the ocean and maybe find water that wouldn't cause instant hypothermia like the water of the Oregon Coast. I also wanted to go to a place like Disneyland.

My love for roller coasters took root at Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm and 6 Flags. Of course, I had access to a roller coaster in town too. Except riding our local coaster - The Mouse - never made me want to go looking for other roller coasters. Some rides are scary, some make you want to throw up because of excessive twirling, some are exhilarating. The Mouse is ingeniously engineered for fear.

The premise, I eventually surmised, was that fear is fear. The source of the fear is really secondary to the experience. For example, being locked in a cage with poisonous snakes might give you the a similar sensation. I'm sure it feels good to survive that, but I might not build a ride around it.

The designer of The Mouse created an elevated metal track that resembles scaffolding in a lot of ways. One difference may be that The Mouse doesn't feel as stable as a typical scaffold or even a flimsy ladder. The rickety track sways a little as the cars make their way up and around the path. The cars were also designed to extend out over the edge of the track when making turns. The fear of falling from this ride is ever present. The fact that it isn't very tall as roller coasters go isn't comforting.

The home of this unique experience is Oaks Park in Southeast Portland, Oregon. I don't know if the ride is one-of-a-kind, but I have often wondered if it was originally conceptualized by a kid with an erector set who had a dream to build a coaster. Later, as an adult, this former kid decided to use the parts of ten thousand erector sets to construct that dream... and my nightmare.

Of course I rode it every time I went to Oaks Park. I didn't know any better. I thought roller coasters were supposed to make you feel that your life was in danger and this did the trick. It was only later, when I experienced some big budget alternatives that I understood the semantic difference between fear and thrill. I guess this is where I part company with whoever built The Mouse.