DAY 142

DAY 142
08.24.07
TREE 59

I’ve been getting a lot accomplished today. I really feel good about the progress I’m making for my show. And for dinner I went over to my parents place for BLT’s and a tree reclimb. They also agreed to help out with the food and drink for the show and I really appreciate that. So we ate and then I headed outside to climb before it got too dark. It is amazing how much earlier it gets dark compared to a month ago. Fall is coming but not before we all die of this August heat. My dad followed me out because he said he wanted to see how I got into the tree. That first branch is pretty high and I assume he’s been looking at that and wondering. Well, it’s simple… the tree is right next to a fence. I hopped up and that made that first limb an easy reach. I felt really good going up. My hand grips are definitely getting stronger and if the limb is not too big, I definitely trust my whole body weight to one hand. Left or right, they are both good. So that is very comforting and at the same time allows for faster and higher climbs. I don’t always have to have a sturdy foothold. I got to the top and ripped off the ribbon. Igot another couple branches higher which increased my sway. I took some pictures but many were blurry with the low light and constant movement. Plus, there were so many leaves in the way there weren’t too many good shots. I climbed down and it felt like I was at that last limb in no time. Down to the fence, then to the ground and out a little to take some distant shots. A nice climb, but nothing crazy. My mom would appreciate that.

8-24-08:  I am always shocked at the difference between flash shots and non flash shots in the same light.  They are literally the difference of night and day.  The flash makes the shutter speed so fast that outside light doesn’t have time to show up.  The background looks pitch black while the objects in front are glaringly bright.  It is hard to use flash effectively in trees.  Ideally I would need a good distance from the object for the flash to work effectively.  But since I am in the object I am often shooting, that distance isn’t there.   But mostly the problem is leaves.  All the light bounces off the leaves that are in the way making the distant landscape I am trying to capture become too dark to see. 

Also, BLT’s are a big deal at my parents place this time of year.  They grow tomatoes and this time of year they are just thick with them.  I need to get over there so I don’t miss out on them. 

Lately I’ve been coming to Drew’s office on 10th and Main to get online like I am now.  After I finished blogging yesterday I got on my bike and just went one block towards the river and hooked into the River Walk Trail.  I hadn’t been in a while and I wanted to climb a tree before the afternoon events got started.  I didn’t go very far down the path… just up the S curve over the railroad right to a small park.  There’s a playground, some baseball fields, and tennis courts.  The park was pretty full with softball games and one family get together.  I biked around the park looking for a decent tree to climb.  None are too big so I kept passing them on for something better.  I saw a large tree in the distance and realized it’s a tree I have seen before and determined to hard to get in.  After finding nothing else, I went back to that tree to see if there was an entry I was missing. 

It is very big around in the trunk, and tall.  Some of the branches arch down but all I can reach are the thin branches that seem too weak to hold any weight.  I tested a few until I found one with promise.  (The lowest branch on the left side of the tree in the picture.)  I yanked on it, hung from it, and it held.  Happy I solved the puzzle, I went for it and climbed up the thin branch with my arms until I could hook my heels over and start crawling upside-down in towards the trunk.  The bark of this large basswood tree is very rigid and strong.  When limbs are very big around it makes for touch hand grips, but with nice rigid bark, my fingers can curl around and grip easier.  When I got to a part of the branch with a vertical limb offshoot, I pulled myself up and got to my feet.  I walked the few feet left to the trunk and began my climb up the large branches. 

At one section a few feet higher, the trunk splits into three main branches.  I looked up and picked the one that went the highest.  Luckily this branch had enough limbs off of it to make the path to the top manageable.  Almost to the top I paused and looked down to the base of the trunk.  I had just leaned my bike up against it and I wanted to make sure I could still see it in case I had to shoo away any suspicious characters who may approach or eye my ride.  In doing so I saw a nice spot for a picture.

Then I finished the climb to the top of the tree.  It feels so great to reach the very top of such a large specimen.  Especially with the view I had. 






Once I finished taking a bunch of shots of my surroundings, I started to look up and down.





I was just very excited about the pictures I was getting… I took a bunch.  But I realized I have been focusing so much on getting good pictures lately.  I often climb up, shoot, and then just climb back down.  I have been missing the quiet contemplation, the observation of the physical moment.  I put my camera away and stayed up there a little while longer to just enjoy the view with my own eyes, feel the breeze, and let the accomplishment of this climb sink in.  I started this project to make myself experience the activity that inspires my artwork on a daily basis, not to do a photo project.  I feel as though I forget to sit up there and allow myself the time for inspiration to come.  I need to not forget that.