DAY 359
03.28.08
TREE 193 & 155
We had some major down pours last night and early this morning. I got up, got ready, and went to the Garner’s to do some work. Will and I did some landscaping down at the bottom of the driveway. As we removed some pesky honey suckle and straightened up the fence my shoes got extremely muddy. I don’t know why I didn’t wear my boots. Then we ate some lunch and I went home.
At home I wasted time on the computer for ever then went out to eat with my parents. When we got back the sun was starting to set and I wanted to climb. I put my muddy shoes back on and drove down I-71 to the rest stop. I parked, got out, and went in to piss. Then I came out, went right up to the massive tree towards the entrance and started to climb.
As I moved up the large limbs I didn’t exactly remember my previous path to the ribbon but I remembered that it took some inventive and risky moves. In particular, I knew I had to climb up one limb and then transfer up and over two more, climb back down slightly, and then up, over and back again to reach the ribbon. Every inch I went higher the path revealed itself to me. I moved without hesitation and with surprising ease.
Then, not four feet from the ribbon I saw a person approaching me. I stopped and waited to see if he was coming to say something. When he got close he said something I couldn’t hear. I touched my ear and he just pointed down. I yelled, "you want me to get down?" And he repeated the gesture. Fuck! In nervous frustration I reversed my trajectory. I started coming down fast but then stopped and realized I had to take my time. I looked for a more direct way down, but like last time, couldn’t find one. So I went back through all the transfers pissed off. I dropped to the ground expecting the guy to be there to say something but he was gone! I did take a picture of the tree from the ground and then decided to seek this guy out.
I walked into the building and he was behind a counter. I went up to it and said, "excuse me, but why did you tell me to get down?"
He said, "you can’t climb trees here. If you fell and got hurt you could sue the state."
I asked if this was a rule that was posted anywhere.
He just said, "no, but you just can’t climb these trees."
I said disappointedly, "fine… sorry."
I walked out just ticked off. I’ve climbed three times before at this rest stop. One time recently in day light with this asshole not 30 feet from me collecting trash. He didn’t see me then. How did he see me this time? Did someone notify him? I was so frustrated that I didn’t just get the ribbon that I decided to go get another ribbon I had failed to retrieve on another tree.
I got in my truck and got back onto I-71. I got off on the Gene Snyder and took it to US 42 and turn right. I drove back in the direction of home as the darkness began to fall. I pulled off by the St. Francis Elementary School field and got out. I walked across the soggy grass towards the tree I had already climbed twice before. Only the second time the world was covered in ice.
As I got closer the puddles got deeper until I could see a practical creek running along.
There was no place to get around it. My feet were already a little wet so I just walked through and it soaked me to my ankles.
I got to the tree and jumped up. Once on my feet I rotated around the trunk and I was facing the school.
Then I saw two people and froze.
Not again! Thankfully they didn’t see me and walked out of sight. I continued up quietly then heard them again. I watched these two people as they began to play on the playground. They must be high schoolers. They wouldn’t care about me. Thank god! I continued up to the orange ribbon, took pictures with the remaining light,
and then climbed back down.
At least I got one ribbon today.
And as a bonus, walking through the water cleaned of my muddy shoes. It all works out in the end. And really, I guess it makes for a better story. Now I just have to decide whether to go back to the rest stop and get that ribbon another time.
3-31-09: I never went back to get that pink ribbon from the rest stop tree. I drive by it occasionally and try to see if I can spot the ribbon. I haven’t seen it lately and I am afraid all the windy and icy weather tore it off. I kind of liked the idea that a few ribbons remained. There are trees in Cincinnati, Portland, and West Virginia and still have ribbons so all is not lost. That is, if they are still there.
—
March 28th 2009. Saturday. We got up early, ate and left for the Purdue campus for the first day of the regional Parkour meet-up. We met at the big, spawling tree at the front of Memorial Mall.
Once everyone had signed a sheet giving our name and strengths and weaknesses we warmed up, did some conditioning, and stretched. Then we split into groups and started to go around campus. There were so many great trees every where. I couldn’t help myself and would leave the group and climb for a few minutes or try to incorporate whatever trees I could into my lines. I ended up climbing about 5 trees. I think I got in some pictures and video but I can’t seem to find any place they’ve been posted. I didn’t have my camera on me since I didn’t want it to get damaged in all my jumping and rolling. I did climb one beech tree after lunch and took just two pictures with my cell phone.
Other than that all I have is my memory. There was another great big tree that I climbed that was awesome. I scrambled up the trunk and cat-crawled out one limb. Then I went back to the trunk and went out another. I took it all the way to the end and then hung and dropped to the grass about 20 feet from the trunk. There were also two other thin maples I climbed right next to the steps of a building that I used repeatedly to climb up and down the side of the steps. I got a lot of people yelling Tarzan at me. It was a good day of parkour. I went really hard before lunch and moderate afterward. I hit my but on a concrete block at one point and that was my signal to take it easy. I saw a lot of impressive moves and met some cool people. Overall, it was a great time to bond with the LPK guys. I really appreciate their enthusiasm and they have exceeded my expectations for what I thought LPK was going to be after less than a year. But we still have plenty of work to do.