DAY 27
04.30.07
TREE 32I used my stilts to help get me started on today’s tree. It is right behind the Loftus House. I had tried running up the trunk to reach the first branch but I just couldn’t make it. On my second attempt I successfully grabbed and held on. Once in the tree it was an easy and satisfying climb. I had a couple of choices of routes and was able to get up really high where the branches started to taper off. I was higher than the Loftus House and had a great view of the whole grounds. Ardis and Lisa both saw me in the tree. I’m pretty sure it freaked them out and made them worry. But I found my perch and enjoyed the beautiful day and slight breeze. I was so comfortable I decided to make a phone call. Not very true to nature, but for me, connecting with friends and tree climbing are two of my favorite things.
5-1-08: Happy May Fool’s Day! Stilts are an AWESOME way to spend time with yourself! Take two 8ft. 2×4 pieces of lumber and one 4×4 at least a foot in length. Cut the 4×4 into two blocks about 6 inches long. Then glue and screw them to the 2×4‘s about 3 feet from one end. TA-DA! You have stilts. I made mine my senior of college for a stilt race “happening.” A “happening” is an event that is staged and intended to be viewed as art but can often just be a mundane activity anyone can do. I believe the Fluxus artists of the 60’s and 70’s came up with them. Well, at Amherst College in 2003 there was a re-creation of a Fluxus Mass, an event that made huge fun of Catholic Mass. It was held in the Chapel and as people left the chapel they saw me in a stilt race “happening.” Those stilts have sure come in handy since then. Above is a case in point.
For clarification: Ardis is the communications coordinator at the Mary Anderson Center and Lisa the executive director. The person I chose to call in the tree was, if I remember correctly, Aaryn Munson. She is one of my high school friends currently getting her Masters in Fine Art at the University of Colorado at Boulder. She makes things like baby lingerie and baby quilts with pornographic imagery. I can’t wait to see that work!
And to conclude today’s entry I will, as usual, discuss yesterday’s climb and post some images. After my shift at Zephyr Gallery I dropped of a woman’s ID and bank card I found on the side walk last Saturday. She didn’t live there but her mother was very happy that I had returned them. She asked if I wanted to call her daughter and let her know I dropped them off. This after she said, “She’s a cutie, ain’t she?” I said, no, and went on my merry way to Cherokee Park where I climbed a huge beech tree. The beginning of the climb felt much like rock climbing as I scaled the hard, rough surface of the massive trunk before I reached any limbs. Here are a few pictures from my highest perch:
