DAY 217

DAY 217
11.07.07
TREE 141

I woke up this morning with a mission.  I had to get ready to go to Portland.  I didn’t have a lot to pack but I had some stuff to plan out.  So I ate, showered, and packed what little things I needed.  Then I posted the items I wanted to sell on CraigsList.  My flight wasn’t until 2pm so I was done with plenty of time.  I decided it would be best to climb now rather than wait till I got to Portland where it will be late, dark, and who knows what the weather would be.  But I also didn’t want to go too far.  I told my dad I was going for a walk and stepped out of the front door. 

I strolled out onto the grass and looked up at the clump of trees to the right of the house.  A few years ago my parents had a couple of trees cut down and I spent hours chopping that wood into firewood.  Then I neatly stacked them between the trunks of a few of these tress. 

One of them, though skinny, is a perfect climbing tree.  Another gem I never even noticed before.  It truly amazes me sometimes how the trees present themselves in my times of climbing needs. 

The first few limbs are small and questionable but easy enough to distribute my weight to the secure hold and move past them.  Above those limbs are slightly larger and stronger limbs.  Perfect to grip with my hands.  And it felt great to have my special shoes with gripping soles on them. 

They make such a difference.  I continued upwards holding branches with both hands and lifting my body up for another good foot hold. 

I got up to the top where the trunk becomes very skinny.  I was well above the house and had a nice view of this beautiful, sunny late morning.  I took pictures of the fall foliage and surrounding houses. 

The neighbor, Clint, was riding his red mower and I tried to capture him at work. 

This was a great climb and calmed me for the coming flight and talk of moving.  Seeing Rachel, packing my stuff, and moving on are big symbolically, but really, just a series of tasks and movements… all done for myself. 

11-8-08:  Right now is about peak foliage time.  Pretty soon all those fall colored leaves are going to be on the ground waiting to be jumped into.  So I tried to sell my pool table in Portland on CraigsList and couldn’t.  Rachel still has it and uses it as her table.  I don’t really want to sell it but I have no idea how I would get it to Kentucky with spending a ridiculous amount of money.  For now it will remain. 

On Thursday I went to Drew’s office to work on his bike.  I am building a fixed gear for him and I have three old ten speeds I have picked up for cheap in the last month or two.  First thing I need to do is completely strip the bikes down to the frame.  I did as much as I could with out specific tools then left the office on my own bike to go home.  I biked over to the River Walk Trail and found a little tree by the raised highway that seemed hurt-toe-friendly.  I took a bunch of pictures of it since the lighting was so cool.

As you can see, it wasn’t that tall of a tree.  So I went up into the limbs quick and easy and went as high as I could.  There are still so many leaves in the tree that I struggled to get pictures of the distant skyline, the bridge, and lights across the water.

But I did get one kick-ass picture of the highway with a truck going by.  Once in a while I get a picture that I just love and this is one of them:

I also took some looking down, some with flash… and they came out pretty nice.  It was just a good spot or night photos.

Then I biked over to the BBC Taproom to see if there was anyone there I know.  It is $2 pint night on Thursdays I have been going lately.  Right as I got there I turned to go on what I thought was a low curb but hit it and heard the air in my tire pssssss out.  So frustrating.  I just locked my bike up and had some beer.  As I walked home, 1) I realized I was walking normal and my toe wasn’t hurting and 2) a young couple were carrying a couch down Washington Street.  Being polite I asked if they needed help and without a second delay the guy said, "yeah, take her side."  So she took my bike and I took her end of the couch.  We didn’t have to go far and I was happy to help.  The tire was an easy fix and I am feeling good about my toe’s rate of healing.  All in all not a bad night… besides the 2:30am bathroom sickness episode which I described a few entries back.



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