DAY 78
06.21.07
TREE 87With two shows coming up and the busy house to run all by myself I’m feeling a little busy, stressed but happy. I’m getting my work done and skimping on the house a little, but I’m okay with that. So before my first install at Actors Theatre I parked by the Skate Park because I saw what I thought was a decent tree. Upon closer inspection it didn’t cut it. Not big enough or interesting. So I walked back towards the truck, which just so happened to be parked right next to a tree I had eyed a few times before but concluded it impossible because the first limb is too high to reach. But being determined and ever more capable of accomplishing feats of climbing I gave it another close look. I noticed the bark is thick, ridged and tough. I tested the grip and it was great. So I climbed, holding with flexed fingertips, inching up my feet and before I knew it that first branch was in reach. The next step from there the trunk stopped and split into three or four major branches. I started on one, was quickly out of options and moved to another. I got up higher in this tree than I thought I was going to. I was on level with the second tier highway that passed near by. But I had forgotten to get new ribbon so I searched my pockets. With four rubber bands and a broken orange lighter I fashioned my mark. I took a few pictures, took a phone call, and decided to make my way down. It was a really fun climb, a great accomplishment, and a beautiful and productive day.
6-24-08: I have nothing to say about that entry above… do you? I feel like people aren’t commenting anymore. I hope I haven’t been losing viewers due to monotony or bad videos or irregular posting. I guess what I am saying is, you making a comment, be it stupid, short, a question, a shared story, something completely unrelated to tree climbing, whatever, it lets me know you are reading my blog and it makes me feel good. Even if you know me and see me everyday I would love your comments on here so others may read them. There is no reason to be self-conscious about it. Try it once, it’s painless, and actually makes me feel stupendous!
So, get ready forsome pictures. On Friday, 6-20, Ben and I went across the Golden Gate Bridge and went to Muir Woods. I nice and fantastical place set in a ravine where giant redwoods were saved from loggers. After the big fire in San Francisco people wanted to cut the trees down to rebuild the city, but thanks to one rich man with a kinship with mother nature, the trees were saved.
On our hike I say this huge fallen trunk hanging horizontally over a ditch. Nothing held it up but it was sticking about 40 feet out from where it touches ground. I was drawn to it immediately and began to walk carefully out on it. It wobbled, bounced and shook as I went. It also got skinnier and skinnier until I had to get down on all fours to finish my way to the end. I sat on my butt and bounced away as Ben watched. Other people walking the trail also stopped and took pictures of me. I had so much fun I just thought I’d make this my climb for the day. So I took pictures and a video. I will also post other pictures from our time in Muir Woods.
6 Replies to “DAY 78”
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you wanted a comment…
Why did you have a broken lighter in your pocket?
Re: you wanted a comment…
You know how you walk around and find a bright thing and you’re drawn to it… you pick it up… you think about it and then put it in your pocket?
Well, I did that with this. And it didn’t work when I found it but I thought I could do something with it. Not sure what… sometimes if you throw a lighter really hard on the concrete it explodes. Flint is cool.
Too few comments…
Alright, I am going to be candid with you and hope it is helpful.
Your journal feels like looking at a friend’s extended vacation blog. Some of your pictures are very nice (this entry is a stand-out), and it often sounds like you are enjoying yourself, but there is not much that I find provocative enough to offer a comment.
I like the idea of using these entries to solicit some kind of unrestricted communication from people. If you push that, and if people respond, this could be fun.
so…
The picture of the deer is gorgeous. Looks professional.
I guess the innocence of the image is what is making me think about my girlfriend. I am in Kansas City with her and hoping to find a job that will allow me to stay here. I have been feeling awfully tired lately and I wonder how stressed I am, but without realizing it. It is difficult to exist in a position as uncertain as mine. The simplicity of the deer’s image, eating peacefully, reminds me that by the end of July I must have a plan. By August 1st, I will either be continuing my stay in Lexington, or I will have removed my items and situating myself in KC.
Are you gaining weight?
Those trees have too much girth for me to want to hug them.
I want you to be a STUNTMAN in movies. Do you?
thats the kind of mega-tree that I was talking about that you referred to a few entries ago. yikes!
Re: Too few comments…
Thank you very much for your comment and your honesty. I’ll start by responding to the one that was most off-putting.
Am I gaining wait?! Were I not male I could be much more offended by that one. And, no, I don’t think so… my only thought is that you saw the picture of me in the purple shirt standing in front of the redwood and saw a little belly there. Yes? Well… that is pretty much what I have looked like for more than 5 years. That is just a tight shirt.
Thank you for the comment on the deer. I have to give credit to the little guy who had no fear of humans and continued to eat despite nearly 40 people watching and flashing their cameras at him while we were only 10-15 feet away.
As for your feeling that my blog is like a vacation… I have a slight fear that what I find overwhelming satisfying about climbing trees does not transfer to my audience. Or if they see that I am excited, it won’t necessarily mean they will be. Sometimes I think an ongoing project with more of an objective, a narrative with a goal, might be more interesting. But, really, what I am mostly posting are pictures and images taken a year ago and I can’t change that now… What I can change is what I type, the images and video that I take of my climbs now…
That being said, what do people want? What would make the second half of my entries more intriguing/provocative for you?
Also, on a personal note, I always thought you’d come back to Louisville and I will be sad to see you go so far away. But I am happy that you have found a woman you are so willing to be with that you’d go to a faraway and unknown city. From personal experience, make sure you establish your own life outside of hers. I don’t think you’ll have trouble doing that.
And lastly, I have thought about being a stuntman, but really, I want to be an artist… so any distraction from that is a distraction I don’t want. Please stop suggesting careers for me… I want to be a successful working artist and feel I am doing that. If you have any clues, tips, or ideas to help with that avenue, by all means, please send them my way.
Re: Too few comments…
haha, the stuntman job would be part-time. I thought we talked about this and you were interested in that line of work, part-time.