DAY 45
05.19.07
TREE 51I walked through the wildlife sanctuary looking for 4-leaf clovers and a good tree to climb. After finding two clovers, I wandered down a path till I came to a creek. I followed the creek and found a tree that was growing over the water at a very steep angle. I set down my camera and started to crawl up the trunk. There weren’t too many trust-worthy branches to aid in my cat crawl, which made it quite scary. I really had to concentrate on my balance, stay low, and squeeze with my legs. I encountered some animal feces and some growing white fungus. I did my best to avoid it going up, but going down was another matter. I tagged my spot, and without turning around began to inch backwards. I really squeezed with my legs, and wearing shorts, I reacted to the bark and fungus with itchy red bumps. It was slow going, scary, but I made it safely, and it was quite a pretty tree overhanging the flowing creek.
5-19-08: That was a very disgusting moment in my long tree climbing experience. I chose to not think about it too often. It was better than falling and getting badly injured or dying… I guess. And, at least it was old and dried out feces… right? The red bumps didn’t stick around too long either. A little soap and water in the shower seemed to fix that. I also like how I tried to end my entry on a positive note with a cheesy and succinct description of the scene.
Also, the four-leaf clover searching became a strange obsession. Even though I found five or six, I couldn’t stop looking. There was one magical patch where I found them all, but I had this feeling that I could find another magical patch somewhere else in the sanctuary. I got so into it that I would spend hours walking, stopping, crouthing, and searching through entire patches, one by one. I finally got over that obsession, but it was weird.
This image is from last night’s climb. I waited till eleven at night to climb because I did parkour earlier in the day and it really wore me out. I liked sitting at the top of the this tree in the development area watching the spotted clouds move quickly in front of the moon. It looks full, but I am not sure if it is at its peak. The dogs were sure howling. I always wonder if the dogs bark and howl at me. Can they sense my tree climbing activities from a distance? Does it bother them? I can say for certain that I have aggravated some dogs, but this one had to be at least a quarter mile away.
