DAY 225
11.15.07
TREE 149
Back at work again. It was a very early morning as I had adjusted to West coast time somewhat. But the day wasn’t too bad and I didn’t make too many mistakes. I just forgot to load the trim saws and broke a limb of a neighbor’s tree who, in turn, got way too pissed, called the boss who came out and chewed us out in front of her to make her happy. So far so good with this catching on thing. But at least I liked working with Jake and Jacob. I didn’t feel as inadequate for the job. And, on an unrelated note, it was cold enough today that I saw a couple flurry flakes. Oh, and I told my boss I was only going to work 8 hour days from now on and he said okay. So what did we do? We worked more than 8 hours. Oh well.
I got home not too exhausted. I changed my clothes and figured I’d better climb before it got too dark. I walked toward Cedar Point Road again but this time took a right and headed to Route 393.
Then I took a left. Soon after I got on the road I spotted a sycamore right off to the other side with a decent looking path to the top.
I carefully crossed the road and got a closer look. The first branch was too high to reach but a nice, sturdy vine was growing on it that held my weight. I climbed up it then grabbed the first low limb. I pulled myself up onto it and steadied myself with the vine. Then I reached for the next limb. From there the only two difficulties were getting caught up in the vine as it spread around the branches about half way up, and my hands getting really cold. This tree just felt frigid.
I got up to the top and had a great view of the surrounding farm and construction site.
Even better was the sunset. After taking some pictures I realized I had a clear view of yesterday’s tree with the house across the street from it right behind it.
The sight of it made me look for Turkey Vultures but I found none in the sky. I tied my ribbon and collected a leaf then climbed my way down.
It’s funny how the people driving by never noticed me but the cows nearby did.
11-15-08: First, I feel I need to clarify that forgetting the trim saws is HUGE mistake. It is the smallest of the saws, and most commonly used. Now in my defense, no one told me to load them, and I had never loaded them before so I didn’t even know that was my job, but apparently it was. So from that day forward, whenever I worked with Jake and Jacob they made sure to remind me not to forget them. Well, you bet I never forgot those damn saws ever again and it just burned me every time they reminded me like I was some forgetful idiot. But of all the guys at Greenhaven I liked working with the two Jakes the best. And pretty soon that was the only crew I worked with since no one else wanted me on their crew. Oh! And some people can get way too into their stuff. The woman who got pissy about her broken limb was livid. And here is how it got broken: We had to use the neighbor’s driveway to reach one of the trees we cut down with our bucket truck. To go in and out I got on top of the truck and moved the limbs out of the way as we went. This limb got caught on something and I yelled "hold up! we’re caught!" and he just kept driving and it cracked. I got the blame for that one… for not being loud enough.
God, just typing that up is getting me tense. I am going to talk about yesterday’s climb because it makes me feel much better. Plus, that’s just what I do on this thing.
The rain they had forcasted for yesterday never came, the sun was out, and it was in the low sixties. I really wanted to go out for a long bike ride and climb a tree. I left about 1:50 and started going East on River Road with no real idea where I was headed. Then about a few miles in I felt really good on this road and figured I’d keep going. I decided I wasn’t going to stop and climb till I hit Oldham County. Lucky for me River Road is all flat. It gets a little bumpy on the crumbling blacktop near Wolf Pen Branch Road, but otherwise it was a nice ride. I got the green light and turned onto HWY 42 in Prospect and prepared myself for the long hill that starts right by the Covered Bridge Road intersection. As the hill started I began to push it to keep my pace but the hill began to steepen. I tried to push but my heart was pounding and I was having trouble getting all the oxygen I needed. My body started to freak out from the exertion so I slowed down trying to recover as I kept pumping up the hill. At least I got into a rhythm and my heart beat and breathing got under control, but it was no recovery. I got to such a slow crawl but was determined not to stop till I got to the county line. Cars whizzed past me as I tried to stay going straight on the white line of the road. Then I finally made it. I rolled on past the Oldham County sign and turned around at the Thornton’s to cool down. That is when I started to look for a tree. I decided it might be cool to climb one right by the sign so I could take pictures of it from the tree, kind of as proof. I got off my bike, crossed 42 and walked in the grass looking for a good tree. Right by the signs was a huge sycamore that seemed to have a climbable path.
I got closer, ducked into the undergrowth and saw that there were no close low branches. But I wanted this tree, it was going to be perfect, so I scanned around at the bushes and small trees I was surrounded by and found my way in. This tiny hackberry was just strong and tall enough for my to climb onto and reach the lowest sycamore limb.
I went fast because I didn’t want too many of the cars going by to see me at the bottom of the tree where I’d be easy to spot.
From this first limb I started my climb back and forth around the very large trunk.
It was a good challenge and a bit of a puzzler since I couldn’t see what was on the other side of the trunk. I had to move around sideways to peak around and sometimes there would be a branch I needed, and sometimes not. I got up about half way and was almost ready to stop, but then saw that if I just reached a little more I could reach a branch with one hand, hang, and then pull myself up further. I did it successfully and it allowed me almost twenty more feet into the tree.
But I still didn’t get to the top.
I reached a spot where a major limb had snapped off leaving a huge open tree wound.
It must have blown down in the recent wind storm, and it left a lot of branches still hung up in the tree.
I got into a comfortable stance and got out my camera. Some of the signs were in view but not the Oldham County sign. I figured the Prospect sign was still enough proof.
The overcast sky was thin in the distance and some sun rays broke through and shined on the West side of town.
There were also horses I didn’t realize were close by.
They had watched me for a little while as I was climbing but soon got back to grazing once I got higher in the tree. I was a little nervous that the owner of the property this tree was growing next to was going to see me and come say something because they pulled into their driveway when I was climbing.
But once I was at the top I saw they pulled back out and left. I was in the clear, and probably so high no one could see me anymore.
After shooting I sat just a minute before I started to climb back down. I was covered in the white powdery substance from the bark but thankfully it didn’t make me cough or sneeze. I climbed past the part where it was difficult to get with no problem and quickly climbed the rest of the way down. It was a good climb and I was pumped and ready to hop back on my bike, fly down the hill and cruise home.
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