Month: August 2008

DAY 131
08.13.08
TREE 48

This tree is probably the closest and easiest tree… well, I take that back. It is right outside the front door and the limbs are plentiful and strong, but it actually gave me a little challenge towards the top. I didn’t remember the difficulty from the first time but maybe climbing in the dark is different in technicality than climbing during the day. When I can see all my options I take longer to test branches I think look weak and may skip them because of it. When climbing in limited visibility I grab the closest branch there is, give it a quick tug, then pull myself up. Possibly more dangerous… but I haven’t had any trouble yet. When it’s dark I also take care to distribute my weight between all my hand and footholds so as to not put all my weight on one branch, for fear it may be dying or weak.

That said, today’s climb during the day light was a vastly different experience than the first. For one, I could see the color and patterns in the rough bark. Light tan cracks spread throughout like snake scales as if the live inner wood was bulging and trying to break free. Once I reached my ribbon, out above it I noticed how five or 6 limbs grow out of one place creating a little cup. I pulled and squeezed in, crouched down and pressing out from the inside at all those limbs made myself a nice seat. The sun was going down turning everything golden and I felt as if I was meant to be there, alone, hidden, and content with my place. A very pleasant reclimb.

Me with my tree climber shirt on. (come on Todd, smile for the camera)


8-13-08:  I often don’t schedule my climbs for certain times of day to catch the sunset or some other specific thing I would like to see, so when it happens on accident… it feels that much more special.  I have seen a lot of sunsets in this past year plus.  And at everyone I feel fortunate to see it.  It happens everyday, without fail, and we could watch it everyday but so few of us ever do.  When was the last time you watched the sunset.  Yet, with it’s frequency it still seems special, like I have witnessed something of rare beauty.  And they never get old.  I still get excited when I see one and take a ton of pictures.  I weren’t such a night person, I’d get up more often to watch the sunrise from a tree.  I bet that would feel even more precious and special and make me make faces like the one I did in the above picture.  That face I can only describe as… well… tired.  I definitely don’t think that my expression matched my mood.  I don’t think it often does.  Or my voice for that matter.  I have been told many times that I sound down on the phone.  I don’t mean to be, and am often in a good mood.  I think I am just trying to be quiet so I don’t bother people around me.  Who knows.

I waited till night again to climb yesterday.  I met up with Drew at Spinelli’s for some greasy pizza and 50 cent PBR’s.  We had a good meal and nice conversation and then I hopped on my bike to look for a tree.  I didn’t feel like going to a park and thought I could find a tree near a sidewalk in the neighborhood.  I ended up picking a Bradford pear just a street over from Baxter not too far from Spinelli’s.  I leaned my bike up against the trunk and started to climb up.  I was quickly in the branches that bent slowly over the street.  Being in a residential area I tried my best to climb as quiet as possible but there were so many little dead limbs I kept breaking as I climbed it was a hard thing to do.  I went up as high as I could which wasn’t very high, but this tree was not very big.  I position myself to take pictures and also listened to a woman nearby who was real drunk and pissed off.  She was cussing a mean streak for 5 minutes straight.  But I was too far to make out what she was hootin and hollerin about.  I am glad it wasn’t me.  I took some pictures of  the street, and nearby houses



and then turned around to see the downtown lights.  But I couldn’t stay still enough in these small branches to get a clear picture.  Instead I would move slightly and as a result all the lights in the picture would have a strange path.  On one all the lights looked like question marks.

Then I looked opposite of downtown and saw the moon. 

Then I climbed back down breaking more dead limbs.  The worst were the ones that fell onto the hood of the car parked below.  They hit really loudly.  I got back to the ground and quickly hopped on my bike and rode away into the night.