DAY 150

DAY 150
09.01.07
TREE 103

Today my brother and I went to a guitar store… no good trees. Then we went to the high school track to time ourselves in a mile. I got a 6:20 and he, amazingly ran a 5:46. But there were no trees there. I debated climbing the other red maple out in front of the house but held out for a better option. So I showered and dressed in my Sunday best. We headed out to the Steer Barn for dinner. After a couple beers and a prime rib I had to go to the bathroom. After that I just went outside noticing the sun was about to set. A perfect time to get my climb in. I had scanned around the area for a good tree when we arrived. So I walked right up to the sycamore right out front. The restaurant was crowded so I waited till no one was looking for me to jump in. I climbed up choosing the best limb for height, but when I got to the top the view wasn’t very good. I repositioned my left hand and foot then reached out with my right. I grabbed a hold of a limb, got a good foothold, and released from the other branch. I went up another couple limbs and then I took some pictures. A beautiful sunset on a perfect day. My nice dress shoes and pants didn’t seem to be a problem with the climbing. But this tree wasn’t too big or challenging. I scrambled back down and then joined my grandma and nephew outside the entrance to the restaurant. I really do like new climbs.






9-1-08:  I still can’t believe my brother ran that fast in a mile.  I wonder what he can do now?  I wonder what I can do now?  All the parkour training has given me some shin splints so I might not be able to get another 6:20.  But I sure can bike better than ever.  I’ve almost lost 10 pounds since I got my bike and I’m not even trying to.  I eat more now than I have in a long time, I just bike so much.  

Oh, and one of the reasons I left the restaurant to climb was because of the non-stop noise my nephew Mitchell was making.  It was like he just discovered his ability to make a constant tone and enjoyed doing so… loudly.  I love my nephew but it was getting a little old.  He starting to say words now, and quieter.  That’s cute.  Here are some pictures of him a year ago.

It’s amazing how much kids grow in a year. 
Mitchell now:

Thanks Amy….

Yesterday I biked like mad over to Drew’s parents place for a little time by the pool and the U of L vs U of K football game.  After a few hours of snacking and corn hole I biked over to Ballard High School to climb this maple tree I had seen and always wanted to climb but always found some other tree to climb instead. 

When I walked up I saw some cicada shells and took a picture.  It is strange how I am drawn to them.

Then I pulled myself in on the low branches.  It was a quick and easy climb like most of the maples I’ve been climbing lately.  I got up to the top and split my footholds between two limbs.  I was up in the small ends of them really close to the very top.  

I had an okay view but I have climbed so many trees here at Ballard and some much taller that I wasn’t too thilled with the shots.  



I have some more but they just seem repetitive to me.  I did get a nice shot of the leaves with the sun behind them.

When I was done I started to climb down and noticed the limbs I was on were cracking.  I am hoping it was just the limbs outgrowing the bark, but it made me nervous.  


But I guess it was no reason to worry since the limbs held me and I was on my way down anyway.  So I went down to the bottom and hung from the bottom limb.  The branch was a little wide, however, and I felt I was going to slip off so I didn’t hang long.  I dropped down and biked like mad back home.  

3 Replies to “DAY 150”

  1. We closed on our new house Friday and there are some trees that look like they’d be good climbs, so you’ll have to come visit! Hmmm, I don’t see a way to put a picture in here. Maybe photobucket has a script for it. Let me know if you figure that out.

  2. Congrats on the new house! I can’t wait to visit and climb one of your trees. Thank you for the recent pics of Mitchell, I have posted them in the entry.

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