Fortunately for me, Mary Troxler’s shift Saturday afternoon at St. Mary’s Springfest Funnel Cake emporium called her away from where I had rashly told her that if she would take a ride on the Nemesis 360, I would follow with the next group of riders.

As I so cavalierly made this statement, her husband Jerry was trying to warn me off. Seems that during the 2013 Springfest, someone else had dared her to ride the thing. She took the dare and decided she liked hanging upside down 100 feet up in the air over the Batesville Square.

The Nemesis 360 is that long-armed carnival ride that swings its riders back and forth, higher and higher until its pendulum arms almost reach equilibrium and stop at the top for about one second before gravity overrides and pulls the arms hurtling back down toward the pavement.

People love it. When the Springfest crowd peaked Saturday night, the line of people waiting to get their brief ride stretched backed to the courthouse. Almost.

Not me. I’d have found an excuse to avoid that thing when I was 16.

And there was Mary, hoisting me on my own petard until she realized it was time for her shift to begin. She left, letting me off the hook — petard. Later I saw her when I went to purchase my own  funnel cake.

The Chefs of St. Mary’s were toiling away, looking like they could have used help from a younger generation. Funnel cakes cannot be cooked en masse and meet the high expectations of us carnivaliers.

By then, Mary was too distracted to further pursue the Nemesis 360 question. She was taking in money, hand over fist, trying to keep up with a line of hungry folks, most of whom were waiting for funnel cakes, a line almost as long as the one waiting to ride the Nemesis 360.

So I’ve avoided personal interaction with the Nemesis this year and won’t have to face my brash offer again until next year. Maybe Mary will forget?

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It was a fine Springfest. Hope you had as much fun as I did!