DAY 324
02.22.08
TREE 155
Failure! But in no way does it feel like one. Ice Storm 2008. It was supposed to be my last day of work at Greenhaven Tree Care but the boss called and said there was no work. I was fine with that. I sat around the house and bode my time as the ice that covered everything outside slowly melted. I didn’t wait long enough, however. I left a little before 6pm and took HWY 42 to the St. Francis Elementary School.
When I parked by the side of the field I could see ice still covering the grass, trees, and even my truck was encased and had many icicles. I ran across the frosted field crunching the grass to my oak tree. It didn’t look good. One side of the tree was like a solid wall of ice.
It was really thick at the base of each limb and in the crotches of split leaders. I grabbed a little knob and pulled myself on to the first branch and tested the grip. There was no grip. It was perfectly smooth and slick.
Grabbing the icy limbs with my bare hands was painful so I tried prying off the ice with my fingers. That didn’t work too well. I moved around to the icy side and took some pictures.
The ice coverage was just amazing.
I realized than as I looked up at the orange ribbon way up that I was not going to get to it today. But I wasn’t going to give up here. I knew I could stillget a little higher. With my toe and heel I began to break off the ice on the limbs at the base where they grow out of the trunk.
I got up a few more limbs and was back on the non-iced side but was stuck.
I remember from the first climb using a dead limb in an unsafe move to advance at this point. But it was covered in thick ice and was not a possibility. I looked for another way but ice stopped me at every idea.
So I took some more pictures.
It truly was a beautiful sight to see the frozen, white landscape. What was also amazing was the constant clicking, dripping, and cracking of the slowly melting ice. I may have failed to reach my previous height and retrieve my ribbon but I still had an amazing and memorable experience. It was crazy, but I’m glad I did it.
3-5-09: It’s been more than a year now since I worked for the tree service. I did learn how to climb with a rope and harness and learned how to identify quite a few types of trees. But I have a lot more to learn. There is just no way in hell I’ll ever be getting another job like that. Especially not with Greenhaven. I like working odd jobs with Norman. I’ve learned a lot doing so. Maybe not anything about trees, but I am sure all our building will come in handy whenever I make art where I need to build something.
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My second Saturday in New York, February 21st 2009, Scott and I went and had brunch then walked to Washington Square Park. The last time I was in the park, the day I walked from park to park alone looking for a tree and finding reason after reason to move, I spotted this large tree that leaned way over and was right in the middle of a main thoroughfare in the middle of the park.
With Scott with me, my courage was boosted and I was willing to finally give this tree a try. The bark is very rigid which was perfect to grip with my fingers. I ran and jumped onto the trunk and stuck. Then I slowly and carefully inched my way up adjusting each hand and foot grip one at a time. Progress was slow but the higher I got the less I wanted any one of those grips to fail because it could send me to the concrete floor. My brother sat on a bench and watched
along with a crazy old homeless guy and some punk skateboarders. I made it to the branches and moved further out on the tree. At this height the tree was practically horizontal and easy to just walk out the limbs.
I went as far as I could and took out my camera.
I could easily see the part of the park that was shut off for renovations.
I also enjoyed shooting pictures of the people that walked directly under me and strangely seemed to not notice me.
I was sure that these damn New Yorkers saw everything. I did notice plenty of eyes on me, however.
I was done shooting from the branches
I made my way back to the trunk. I sat and took a couple more shots of the trunk and some people going by before laying on my stomach and sliding down to the ground.
I was glad I climbed this tree and happy my brother was there to witness and give me the balls to do it. Another New York park under my belt.