DAY 124 – Daily Climb

DAY 124
08.06.07
TREE 38

It has been incredibly thick with heat here lately. Climbing trees has been a sticky affair. Dirt comes off the bark and just sticks itself to my skin. But today’s tree was different. I really was looking forward to climbing this one again. There are so many strong limbs and the tree is so tall, it really makes for an amazing view. So I went along the driveway to the base of the tree and considered my entry. I was up and the climb was easy with many choices, but the first 15 – 20 feet had vines and possibly poison ivy growing all over the trunk, just choking it. I believe I really am resistant to poison ivy because after rubbing the leaves as I went up, I had no reaction. Then finally the vines and ivy tapered off and the climb felt more pure. Just me and the tree with no distractions. I just concentrated on my path, snaking through the limbs. At the top I got my blue ribbon then moved slightly higher onto the last branch crook. I wasso high, if I raised my hand, it was higher than the tree. The view was amazing. I took many pictures and enjoyed the cool breeze that only exists at this height. Since the ground was just a suffocating humidity swamp I really wanted to stay up there for a while, but I started to get uncomfortable in my limited stance. I need to build a hammock or chair in a treetop. A fort… that’s even better… with a look out and cover from storms. Anyway, I climbed back down, bark in teeth, and on the last branch I swung down and jumped out into the drive. A slight improvement in height but vast increase in view from before.

Looking up from the ground

A closer look at the poison ivy

The retreat center (left), chapel (center), provincial offices and friary (right)

field and lake behind Loftus House

Loftus House and lot

8-6-08: Funny story…. So, being that last to have seen the Dark Knight (the new Batman movie) I decided I wanted to go see it. I called up MaryLiz since I knew she would be in front of the computer to look up information for me. I wasn’t about to go to a regular theater… I wanted the drive-in. She answered and I asked her to go to the Georgetown Drive-In website to see what’s playing. Luckily for me, screen 1 The Dark Knight, and the second feature, the new X-files. Bonus! I am a huge X-files fan. This is perfect. I ask for other details that sends MaryLiz all over the website. I find out it is $8 to get in, which is a great deal for two current movies and that it starts at 9:15. I ask if her and Drew want to go but I figured they were busy and I was ready to go alone. I have never done this, and thought it about time. So I leave at 8:40 giving me plenty of time to drive there and stop at the gas station for a drink, candy and cash to get in. Then I drive up to the drive-in and I think, “man, it is really empty… I get my choice of spots!” Another car is pulling out and he points at the big drive-in sign. I look and in big red letters:
OPEN: FRI, SAT & SUN.

I was incredibly disappointed. I was so ready for a night of movie entertainment with my energy soda and two bags of circus peanuts. I almost cleaned my windshield at the gas station for premium viewing and I am glad I skipped that. That would have really been a waste. I felt lost. I just shot off my engine, turned off my lights and just sat at the entrance with no clue how to proceed. I called MaryLiz… and explained the situation. She went back to the website to see how she could have missed that. But to be honest… I didn’t ask that question, is it open tonight? I thought about going to a regular theater but then what about the ambiance of the drive-in? What about Scully and Mulder? I decided there would be no movies for me tonight. I will wait for another night… when it’s open.

As I drove away I searched for the thing that could revive my spirit. I was near the Mount, there was a beautiful orange crescent moon in the sky and I knew I need a walk by the St. Francis Lake. I drove to the Mount and parked by the clay studio then walked down to the water. It was dark by now and the air was cool. I went to both docks and spotted what trees I could that I had climbed in the past. Each one made me feel better. I went then to my body shell still holding on to the trunk on a tree by the lake. I sat by the fire pit at the shelter and already could tell I was feeling better. But I had to decide what to do this evening that could keep my spirits up. The answer was simple and hit me quick… I was just going to go back to my apartment and read “The Audacity of Hope” by Barack Obama. I thought it fitting and it got my mind whirling about politics. I forgot about movies and disappointments and the mood was lifted.

Then I went up to the house to see if anyone I knew was there. I walked into the kitchen and there was Emily and Brigitte Schneebeli talking. Brigitte was a resident last year who came all the way from Switzerland. She is an incredibly nice woman and I enjoyed her company very much. It was so nice to see her again. We talked for a while and she was very positive about my art and upcoming show, and then we said farewell. It was such a nice visit to the Mount. It really hit the spot. And of course, I went back to my place and read a chapter of Obama’s book. It is really quite good, I recommend it.

So, how did I get to this, well, the tree from last year reminded me. It was such a good climb and I could see some much of the Mount… the lake, the house, the Friary. As for any response to last years entry, I would only question why that poison ivy didn’t react but the same exact looking kind of ivy on the tree by the water tower did. My only hypothesis is that I cut my leg and then the oil from the ivy got rubbed into the cut causing my first ever reaction. Maybe?

Besides the movie fiasco yesterday, I also climbed a tree (of course). I rode my bike earlier in the day to Cherokee Park and did the loop twice before stopped near Dog Hill to climb a poplar tree. There was a group of 3 poplars all in one spot. The tallest one drew me to the spot as I hoped I could get to the top of that tree. But it had no limbs even close to the ground. The second grew right next to the large one and then bended over, but it didn’t have any low branches either. Plus it was covered in poison ivy. The third was the smallest and grew a few feet away from the other two. It grew with a bending curve as well but had some branches that grew straight up. It looked as though I might be able to climb onto one of those branches and transfer to the other two. However, the third tree didn’t have any low branches I could reach either. I looked closely at the trunk. It was smooth and not to big around. It was a good candidate for shimmying. I was tired from biking and knew if I was to shimmy up to the closest branch I was going to have to commit to it 100%. I mentally prepared myself and then went for it. I inched upwards and then was able to grab the limb and pull myself up. Surprisingly, the shimmying went better than I thought and I didn’t get cut or scraped at all. I climbed up a little further in to the tree to get a good look at a possible transfer, but I realized I needed to get higher. I went up a vertical limb and this is what I saw:

That second tree with poison ivy was more covered than I had thought. There was no way I was going to risk getting onto that. Look how close I was to it anyway:

That wasn’t taken with any zoom. I looked around for any possible way to get to the first and largest tree, but I was out of luck. I was at a dead end. So I took some more pictures.

Looking down at a beech tree

Looking up at the large tree with the sun peeking through

Then I looked to see if there was an end to that poison ivy and if I could get into the second tree further out.

It looked like it would be fun, but the limbs of the tree I was on just weren’t big enough to reach.
I was stuck in this tree alone. I went down the vertical limb I was on and ventured further out. I didn’t get much farther but a little better view of my surroundings.

Since I had no other place to go, I sat a while until I felt that urge to get down. I carefully worked back to the lower limbs and then hung ready for the slide down the trunk. Shimmying in reverse is so much easier. You just adjust the level of squeeze and let gravity pull you down. It was a fun trip on a smooth trunk. Though I didn’t get as high as I wanted, I still felt like it was a successful climb.