DAY 81

DAY 81
06.24.07
TREE 90

Not wanting to have a risky climb I decided to go to a nearby park to climb. It had rained all day and everything was all wet. I found a park online that wasn’t too far from the Mount. But I drove around and couldn’t find it. So I just kept driving around till something hit me. The Berry Twist ice cream hut hit me. I was a little hungry anyway so I got a hot caramel shake and went to sit under the tree I wanted to climb. But once I got close I didn’t like the tree. So I walked to the road and went behind Hobb Knobb Coffee. Nothing, so I crossed Paoli Pike. There was a bank on the corner with a couple trees behind it. They aren’t too big but one seemed do-able. So I sucked down the rest of the shake and hopped in. Only that proved a little difficult because of how slippery it was. But I climbed up, being very careful. The limb size and distance was decent but I was using some small branches for some support that made me a little nervous. High up I kept wanting to get higher, to the top, and pressed on. My foot broke a limb and I was holding on so I was okay but that was a first without expecting it. 81 days in a row and this was my closest call. Funny. So I swayed in the tops, a little nervous, tied my tag, took a leaf, and made my way down. Even though I was fine, when something like that happens I don’t tend to linger very long. An exciting and slippery climb.

6-25-08:  That truly was the first time in the whole project that a limb broke before I suspected it.  It reaffirmed my faith in the 3-point contact rule I use to climb.  What is amazing is how my hands gripped tight and my body braced itself before my brain knew what had happened.  Our reflexes are so cool.

Still catching up here.  Also, I wanted to thank all my readers who responded to my plea and commented.  Please scroll down to previous entries and look for the comment link at the bottom of each one to read them.  I have tried and will continue to try to respond to them and give you what you ask for. 

I thought I would also post here a comment that was sent to me that I wanted to share.  Since I have not asked the person’s permission I am going to post it as an anonymous comment even though I imagine that person wouldn’t mind. 

i get alittle jolt, a little jazzed, when i see photos of your climbs – the ones where you’re looking down through the spine of the tree and one or both of your feet sneak into view – just the laces, usually, of your shoes. and no, i’m not being creepy foot-obsessed, but of all the pics of your climbs these have become the most – hmm – engaging for me. i think it has something to do with the intersection of human and tree, but it is different from your face or self-portraits taken on some of your climbs. the feet – the contact you have with the tree – your hands i haven’t seen in photos, so i know more of your body makes contact – this really helps me to feel some connection to where you are in the tree. it’s not just a random photo from somewhere in the branches – i like the intersection of person and place. awesome project so far.

Thank you.  The first picture I did where my foot was in view really hit me too.  It was my way of proving to the view that I was actually up there.  Those were my shoes, over my feet, no camera trickery.  I have just a few hand shots coming up in the future but they are taken for different reasons. 

Before I get to my climb from the 23rd, I wanted to post some pictures from the show I had at Actor’s Theatre on June 22nd of last year.  I meant to in the previous entry but didn’t have the photos available. 





This last one isn’t really climbing anything because it was too heavy to hang.  But I thought it looked pretty cool there behind the coat check, so they let me keep it there.

To my climb from 6-23… Monday.  After a very intense parkour jam session in the water front park near Tumbleweed… wait wait… first I have to say that just before our jam I went to climb this tree across the street by I-71.  I had to walk through chest high weeds to get there and when I finally reached the tree I saw that it was covered in poison ivy.  Then I looked down around my feet and realized I was surrounded by it.  After finally getting rid of my rashes I stupidly get in it again.  So I push my way out doing my best to avoid the leaves then I ran to the bathroom and washed my arms and legs.  Then when I finally got home I made sure to shower with the Technu poison ivy scrub.  So far so good, no spots yet.

Anyway, I left the playground worn out with a sore shoulder and went to find an easy climb.  I thought I’d drive down to Barret Traditional Middle School off Grinstead because I remember seeing some big trees out front.  By this point it was dark and I walked around the school to the front.  The trees were massive and looked very promising.  One in particular was extremely tall and seemed to have many branches all the way up.  I took a running step up the trunk to grab the first limb and then pulled myself up.  From there it was a good climb… I just had to check each limb for strength since the dark makes it hard to see if a limb can hold me or not.  Another problem with lack of light is the bugs.  About halfway upI started to feel a few things crawling on me.  I brushed them off and continued up.  I got up very near the top and had a little view of some building s down town.  A guy had driven up to the school in a moped and went in the building.  I made sure to wait at the top of the tree till he left to avoid any confrontation.  Then I made a video then started to climb back down.  When I hit that same area where I had bugs on me, I started to feel even more.  My eyes had adjusted a little better that this point and I could see that I was leaning against a whole hive of ants.  I saw them scurrying all over this branch and onto me and I freaked out.  I brushed off what I could see then jumped down to another limb to clear the rest.  It makes me shiver just typing about it.  The rest of the climb was uneventful but enjoyable.  It was a beautiful night.  Pics and video: