DAY 353 – Daily Climb

DAY 353
03.22.08
TREE184

Last night my sister, her husband, and their kid showed up for the Easter weekend. Today we’ve been hanging out, watching March Madness and playing with my nephew, Mitchell. He runs all around and makes a lot of noise but he still can’t talk yet. I can’t wait for that. Really, I can’t wait till he’s much older and we can have conversations. I guess I’ll just enjoy all the stages of his development. All other little kids I’ve ever known have grown up so fast because I rarely saw them. I guess that’s why Mitchell seems to be growing so slow as I see him often.

Afternoon came and I went to climb a tree before we had our big Easter dinner. I drove to the east side of Louisville to Wilder Elementary School.

It’s a good thing I waited till the weekend to climb since the tree is right next to the school building in the back.

I parked by the basketball court in the front parking lot then walked around to the back of the school. It was a cold and grey day. Strangely cold. I had brought a winter hat just in case and had my coat on.

I looked all around and saw no one around so I pulled myself up onto the first branch of the tree. It was fun going up this tree. There were lots of branches to use which made for a fast and fluid climb. I transferred from one major leader limb to another to continue up to my pink ribbon. Towards the top the limbs got smaller and more vertical.

I reached as far as I could go which was as far as I had gotten the first time. I took off my ribbon

and took pictures.

I could see tall, bright sports field lights in the distance over some houses.

Then I heard some loud speaker announcements. I had seen a bunch of cars parked at Ballard High School and I wondered what game was on.

As I looked all around and took pictures I noticed I was surrounded my red buds.

They are so bright and colorful with little yellow and green specks within the brilliant red. This is a very early budding tree. I took a lot of pictures of them.

These conditions were giving me mixed clues. These buds meant spring but this weather felt like winter.

I stood up there a little longer but my foot, holding all my weight in a crook, was feeling the result. So I climbed down fast, holding a twig with buds on the end in my mouth. This fun climb really warmed me up. Then as I walked back to the truck the weather suddenly seemed very pleasant to me even though nothing had changed.

3-27-09: I think my nephew is talking, but not making a whole lot of sense. Some words will be clear as day, then others are garbled and strange. They might mean something to my sister, but to me it’s a foreign language. But it’s been since the first of the year that I’ve seen Mitchell, so who knows what he’s been saying lately. I guess my sister does. I should ask.

—

March 22nd 2009. A Sunday. I went to the gym for indoor parkour training with Josh again. Then we went to Whole Foods ’cause we both had major fresh fruit cravings. After I dropped Josh off at home my parents arrived to the airport back from their cruise in the Caribbean. They let me choose the restaurant so we went to Kashmir on Bardstown Road. We finished and they dropped me off at home. One thing kept leading to the other and pretty soon it was dark and I needed to climb a tree. I decided I wanted to go to Cherokee Park to climb so I hopped on my bike and headed towards the Beargrass Creek Trail. It was really dark, but I had my front and back lights flashing. As I came to the dark end of the trail I saw a silhouette of a person. I slowed down and just before I passed I said, "on your left." This woman, looked in her thirties, turned her head as I pedaled by and said very slowly, "God damn you!" I biked on to the intersection of Grinstead and Lexington hoping not to run into her again. I have no idea what or why she said that.

I biked into the park and as I headed up the slope to Dog Hill I thought, I do not want to bike this hill right now. So I hopped off my bike and went off the road onto the golf course. I usually come here during the day and never feel I can go over the course freely so I figured night would be the best time to check all the trees I haven’t even seen. As I walked up the grassy hill I saw different trees that all seemed like possibilities but I wanted one at the top, that was tall, and would give me a great view all around. I found my tree, a nice tall poplar. The lowest branch was out of reach, I couldn’t run the trunk to reach it, there were no overhanging limbs, and I couldn’t shimmy the trunk. But I wanted this tree. I securely leaned my bike against the trunk and stepped up onto the frame and then the seat. I reached but still was short by about 6 inches. I tested the bark for grip know that I only had a few inches to shimmy. Though the trunk was very wide, I knew I could do it. I squeezed, lifted my knees and straightened and the branch was finally in my grasp. I pulled myself up and got to my feet. Then I climbed and climbed all the way to the top.

I looked out and I could kind of see the skyline.

There were some other areas with lights,

the intersection I was recently at was just below,

but mostly it was a dark night.

So dark I knew pictures were going to be tough. Any slight movement by me got the branch swaying and then it was impossible to stay still. I was afraid to take a shot with flash, but took the risk once.

I could see the course club house not too far in the distance and had no idea if there might still be someone there. I always err on the side of caution.

When shots became pointless, I just sat in my perch and enjoyed the warming weather. Spring is finally here and it feels so good. Then I climbed back down and hung from the lowest limb. I had to monkey out a little so when I dropped I wouldn’t land on my bike. I definitely wasn’t going to try to slide down the trunk back to my seat. I got a little swing going, then when my feet were back, I dropped and rolled on the ground. Another successful climb.