DAY 312
02.10.08
TREE 154
I did something today that I have not done for quite some time. I worked out at a gym. MaryLiz recently joined a gym over on Baxter Avenue but she had been saying how she doesn’t really know what to do. So I offered up my knowledge and services as someone who started conditioning in 3rd grade with gymnastics and spent quite a few hours in gyms from high school, to college, and after. Unfortunately, just not lately. I came to hate them. They came to represent the absence of fun. But with a fun partner, all that could change. So, anyway, we went about 3pm and worked on legs and abs. I had a good time, tried to keep it easy, but I know I am going to be sore.
After dropping MaryLiz off I went to Will’s to see if he wanted to get some dinner. We ended up picking up Elizabeth up as well and going to Kashmir for Indian food. Elizabeth was drunk again. That’s 3 for 3, but she made an effort to not call me an asshole. Time was going by, good food was eaten, and I had a tree to climb. I had my sites on North Oldham High School. A Sunday night, no one there, I thought I’d be perfect. So after a few minutes at Will’s I headed down 42. I had a little difficulty remembering which road it was but when I finally got it right and pulled into the bus circle I got nervous. It was as if I ran into a wall of bad energy. Maybe it was just a fear of getting caught by security or a cop or some watchful eye, but either way, I just turned right around and headed to the tree on 146 across from Steve-O’s Italian Restaurant.
The more I get into this project the more I realize how much I heed gut feelings and irrational judgment calls. Trees that I like just hit me and I’m drawn to them while bad feelings are treated like bad omens.
When I got to the gravel parking lot by the other tree I parked with no other cars around me. I got out and the cold air hit me hard and I began to shiver immediately. I got to the tree and started right away hoping I’d warm up. My body did, slightly, but it was hard to tell over the feeling of my freezing hands. They got so painful I tried to hook the branches with my wrists, but that just wasn’t safe. I paused every once in a while to rub my hands together and breathe on them. I got to the top
and when I went to rip off the orange ribbon I pulled quick and one tail ripped off. So I tried digging a finger under the knot but it just hurt so bad. I pulled the other tail and it ripped off. Frustrated, I just ignored the pain and struggled but finally got the damn ribbon all the way off.
Then I took some pictures but I was just too cold and I couldn’t stay still.
I took as many as I could before I just had to put it away and warm my hands for the climb down.
Still trying to make this climb more than just a memory of bitter cold, I tried climbing down a different way that was a higher difficulty. But then I just got frustrated that it was taking longer. In the end, despite all the cold bitching, it was still a decent climb and a beautiful night. Clear, crisp… and really fucking cold.
2-12-09: I feel that I should explain about "Elizabeth." She was one of the girls Will was seeing at the time. She was 22, fluent in sign language, and worked for a milk shake machine company. She drank a lot and I wanted to meet her when she was sober. Three attempts at that and three fails. On a Sunday afternoon I thought for sure she’d be sober. I was wrong. When she drank she also got a little saucy and would call me names. Will and her never really got going.
As for the gut feelings, I am way more attuned to them now. I allow myself to be drawn to and away from tree climbing situations. Many times my intuition has proved to be correct. I have been drawn to a tree and then paused because of a feeling. Moments later a cop or some person that could have caused a problem would pass by. These have reinforced my reactions to inexplicable feelings. I can’t explain why one trees draws me while another doesn’t either.
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So last Monday, February 9th, my first full day in NYC, I got a call from Nathaniel Robinson, otherwise known as, Nate. He is a college friend, fellow artist, and we like very similar things. He was interested in seeing me climb a tree so I met him at the south west corner of Central Park. We greeted then began to scour the park for a good tree. Since he wanted to see something impressive I was looking for a really good tree. One that was tall with a bit of challenge. The weather here this week has been record breaking in its warmth. The people are out and the park was crowded. We kept seeing possibilities but passed them by for the crowds or because the tree wasn’t right. We walked and searched and I was getting frustrated. He said as we walked how he didn’t even consider the amount of time it might take to find a tree. We walked winding through the park all the way parallel to 86th Street.
I was tired of looking. I spotted a wide oak tree.
It had a massive trunk that was in no way shimmiable and branches to high to reach. But there was one very long limb that hung down low enough at the end to jump for the grab.
Nate took a seat on a nearby rock and I got to it.
I walked the limb in testing its strength till my feet couldn’t touch the ground anymore. It was holding so I lifted my legs up and hooked my heels over the branch. I crawled in hanging upside down to the trunk and dropped my legs, turned 180 degrees and hooked my legs back up to rotate my body on to the top of the branch. That long crawl had tired my arms out pretty quick. I took a minuted than continued upward on the large branches. Nate continued to watch below but also took breaks to practice walking on his hands. I got to as high as I could go, which was not near the top (and I was disappointed I couldn’t get there) but that was it.
It didn’t help that as I was at my high point 3 cop cars drove by. One, a van, drove by and out of the park. Seconds later another came by, an SUV, and parked up the road. That made me really nervous. Then another SUV cop car came up and parked next to the other SUV. I guess they were just talking and didn’t see me or care, but I thought at any moment they could pop out and come towards me. Nothing happened and I got some pictures before I climbed back down.
I crawled back out the low limb and dropped to the ground. Nate and I quickly made hasteaway from the tree and the cop cars.
I am not sure what Nate thought of the experience, if it was what he was expecting, but it was nice to share it with him. We continued to walk for a while then decided to head to Queens to go to his studio. I got to see his latest sculptures and some old videos he made. It’s some really great work and I really liked the videos. Then we went out to some real Irish pubs where the bartenders even had authentic accents. It was nice to see Nate again and spend time with him.
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