DAY 229
11.19.07
TREE 153
I returned to the Mary Anderson Center today to run some errands, see people, and climb a tree. It started with a nice lunch at La Rosita’s in New Albany with Norman and Marla. Then it was a long trip to IUS to return a DVD. Long because I got on the interstate going the wrong way and it took a while for me to be able to turn around. After that I made my way to the Mount. I headed directly to the clay studio and glazed my book covers. Then I went to the house and caught up with Ardis. After that I stepped outside and walked towards the Friary, and right there, not fifty feet from the house, is this oak tree with redish-brown leaves. Tall and straight with many limbs. How perfect, I thought. It just called to me, no question, this was my tree. I walked up to it and wondered how I never had considered it before. Then I realized why. It’s deceptively tall (or it seems shorter than it is) and the first limb is pretty high. But with my new abilities in shimmying up trunks, it was definitely doable. I went up, put my hands on the bark and it was rough on my finger tips. The next step would’ve been to wrap my legs around, but I thought a second… could I walk up? I tried and lifted one foot onto the trunk, squeezed tightly with my hands then lifted my other foot. No slipping, it was good. I began to go up, hand, hand, foot, foot. Slow like my other method, but easier on my legs. Soon I was at the first branch. From there it was an easier climb but still a little difficult to snake through the numerous limbs and avoid all the small, poky twigs.
I got to the very top and what a view!
It was nice to see all my old friends near by. And by friends, I mean all the trees I have climbed along the Mount driveway.
I took a lot of photos and tied my ribbon.
The Chapel
The Provincial Friary
I thought of Father Paul and wanted him to walk outside so I could call his name from the tree. He would freak out at my position and want me to come down. I called him on the phone but he didn’t answer. So I grabbed a leaf and climbed down.
At the bottom I slid down the trunk for a soft landing then went back to the clay studio to throw on the wheel. Father Paul eventually came by. It was nice to see these people. I am glad I am close and am so fortunate to have had my experience here. This place, the trees here, it will always mean a great deal to me.
11-19-08: It’s funny how things occur in synchronicity with last year. I have not seen Marla for quite some time, yet just two nights ago I had her, her husband, and some other friends over for a little dinner party. I was also just thinking yesterday that I had not talked to Father Paul in a while. He moved to Burlington, North Carolina and I have not talked to him since his last visit to town in early October. Then, boom, they show up in my entry. It’s like that day this summer when my truck broke down exactly the same day of the year that it broke down in 2007. Other little things have happened too. I would have never noticed them had I not kept this journal. I have also been able to compare each day’s weather to the conditions one year ago. And like most things weather, it isn’t that interesting.
It was another really cold day yesterday and I was not itching to get outside. My front tire was flat and I scheduled a time to go over to MaryLiz’s so I could patch my inner tube and teach her how to do so. That wasn’t until 4:30 so I spent the whole day inside on the computer listening to Christmas music and doing random stuff. (I don’t know, I just got in the mood… maybe it’s the weather.) By the time we got our bikes patched, cleaned and ready to go it was dark outside. I just wanted to get out on the River Walk Trail and climb the first tree I find. And I did. Pretty much. I wasn’t on the trail for more than 30 seconds before I hopped off and walked up to a small tree. I locked up my bike and walked up to the tree and was highly disappointed. It was small,it didn’t have many branches, and so I looked around and another tree caught my eye across the trail and down a few yards.
It wasn’t a whole lot bigger than the other tree but it had a lot more branches. I took off my biking gloves and started to climb in. Surprisingly this tree had all strong limbs. It was a quick climb to the top. I got so high in this tree I tried to take a picture pointing up at the top spot of the highest limb and it was so close it was out of focus.
Luckily I wasn’t that cold once I got to the top. I had dressed very warmly and the wind wasn’t blowing so my hands were okay. I started to take a bunch of pictures (and by a bunch I mean between 30-40, that’s about average lately for each climb) of the skyline, I-64, the railroad bridge, the Ohio and Indiana on the other side, my view down, and an ambulance that was chillin’ underneath the interstate nearby. Some shots were difficult since I was so high in the smaller branches, even without wind, I still couldn’t prevent all movement. At one point I just had to climb down a few branches to get some better shots.
If you look closely in the last picture, in the middle there is a bright yellow square. That is the back of the ambulance. They just had their lights on, the engine running, and never moved the entire time I was around. Anyway, once I was done shooting I was out of that tree fast. I was ready to be inside and warmed up.
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