DAY 197
10.18.07
TREE 120
Tonight I scheduled dinner and art at Michelle’s in the evening. I also talked to MaryLiz earlier in the day about helping her move furniture to GoodWill and to Laura’s [Will’s ex-girlfriend] apartment. It all worked out that I could help MaryLiz, then go to Michelle’s. Brigitte [writer from Switzerland], a resident at the house, had mentioned something about a storm approaching. She was worried about it being severe with tornadoes. Without knowing anything I dismissed the possibility. It just seems late in the year for tornadoes. So I went into town to help MaryLiz. It was warm but cloudy. By the end of our errands huge dark clouds were quickly moving towards us from the west. I saw some of the most impressive lightning strikes. I drove to Michelle’s, put the cover back on my truck bed and when I got to her front door the rain started. The clouds were black and low. Very creepy. Plus, the tornado sirens started howling. I felt bad and tried to call Brigitte and the house but no luck. I found out later I had dialed the wrong number for Brigitte’s cell phone. Off by one digit. So, Michelle and I turned on the news and she started dinner. Soon there was a break in the storm but more was on it’s way. I had to climb. Now or never. I ran outside and climbed the tree right in Michelle’s front yard. A large tree busting into the sidewalk. It was a little slippery from the rain and had quite a few dead parts. The trunk was dead at the top, maybe from a previous lightning strike.
I climbed higher and higher. I pushed, even in the circumstances. I am convinced that nothing could keep me from climbing to the top if I think I can. Not even lightning and tornadoes. Maybe it’s stupid but I’ve never even seen a funnel cloud and I’d say the odds are in my favor. So I climbed very carefully because towards the top the tree got more slippery.
I took some pictures and grabbed a leaf.
As I climbed down I really had to hug one branch and it got my white t-shirt all dirty on the front. A nice marker to remember this crazy climb by. But I climbed… no weather can stop my determination to achieve my goal.
10-19-08: I was talking with my good friend Ben Griggs about my blog entries. He was concerned that the format is confusing. Sometimes when he looks at my blog he thinks I haven’t updated for a year because I post my entry from a year ago. Then it is not until halfway down the entry that you see the current date. Ideally I wanted to scan my written entries so that you could read my handwriting and tell it was a historical document. But I write so damn illegibly that that wasn’t an option. He suggested I switch the order… write about my current climbing experiences and then post the entry from a year ago. I am still debating. Let me know what you think.
As for this entry from a year ago, that was closest I have come to being in a tornado storm. NOT in a tornado, but in a storm that had tornado warnings. I also felt really bad about the residents back at the house at the Mary Anderson Center. It was my job to help them and I left them stranded for the night. They were holed up in the basement freaking out. Brigitte had never been in a thunderstorm before. That tells me that Switzerland is boring. Just like Portland, Oregon was boring without thunderstorms. I love them. I do wish I could have better captured the ominous feeling of the break in the storm when I was in the tree. My pictures for the most part are blurry and lack the feeling I had of rugency and excitement.
On Friday night I walked to Jennica’s to see Slackshop. It is a band whose bassist is the artist Patrick Donley, a fellow member of Zephyr Gallery. On the way I climbed a little tree along the edge of Washington Street. I didn’t get very high because it was a short tree and the view was not incredible. On a whole it felt like a climb I just had to do for the day. Not exciting. So I will leave you with a few pictures and say… till tomorrow… good climbing!
