DAY 313

DAY 313
02.11.08
TREE 150

Mondays… my day off.  I did a little job searching and messing around.  The afternoon approached quickly and my dad warned me of a severe winter storm that was on its way.  I had been biding my time, waiting for school to let out.  I was going to climb the tree at North Oldham High School today. 

I set my mind to the idea so as to avoid any sudden avoidance’s.  I left a little after 3pm and impatiently waited for the heat in my truck to kick in.  It was another unbelievably ass cold day.  I pulled into the school entrance and parked in a half empty lot by the tree. 

The lot had mostly trucks and construction materials so I figured this was the workers’ lot.  This was very convenient since I figured the students and teachers would avoid the construction area.  But not too far away were a long line of school buses.  The students were slowly making their way on board so I waited them out.  I thought I should look inconspicuous and read while I waited instead of just watching people… just in case.  So I looked through a used car magazine Will and I had used for wrapping paper.  Once the buses cleared out I got out of the truck and walked to the tree.  On the ground by the tree were construction supplies.  It looked like aluminum roofing. 

I hoped no one was going to accuse me of eying their supplies.  (I am so paranoid).  So I looked around, saw no one in view, and shimmied up the trunk to the first branch.  I climbed up into the limbs quick and those damn little twigs began to break off as I moved.  They fell and landed on the roofing sheets making an awfully loud noise. 

I began to climb up my leader branch towards the ribbon then saw some construction workers approaching the lot.  I froze and watched as more and more came.  Now I had to wait for them to leave. 

And they took forever changing their boots and taking off coveralls.  I was getting so cold just waiting.  They staggered out of the lot over about a ten minute span.  Then I did my best to climb the rest of the way up with as little debris as possible. 

At the top I felt more comfortable. 

I took off the ribbon

and took pictures. 

My hands struggled in the cold wind.  A few light snowflakes began to fall.  When I finished shooting I didn’t wait long before climbing back down.  Teachers were beginning to leave and I just wanted to get down and out of there.  When I dropped to the ground I was free.  I felt good thatI had finally climbed this tree and had no problems. 

I think ever since I got yelled at for climbing I’ve become more paranoid of getting hassled again.  Sometimes these thoughts are just overwhelming. 

2-12-09:  That day sticks out to me as one of the coldest and hardest on my hands even though I don’t write about it.  I think it was the combination of the cold and the poking twigs.  When you get poked when your skin is cold, it really smarts. 

And all this talk of severe weather.  2008 had its share of bad storms but 2009 is looking to be far worse.  Yesterday in Kentucky there was another high wind storm.  More trees and power lines are down.  If the ground hadn’t been so saturated from the all the melting ice and snow it wouldn’t have been so bad.  The trees have just been hit so hard.  It is a true test of survival of the fittest trees. 

And did you hear Hawaii had a tornado?  I think the world is coming to an end. 

—

Mean while, New York has been in the mid 60’s.  Last Tuesday I met Ted (another college friend who is currently in his second year at Columbia Law) at the 110th Street Subway stop.  I got right to the matter at hand.  I wanted to find a tree first and I knew there were a few parks around the area on the upper west side.  We decided to go down 110th to Riverside Park along the Hudson.  It is set below the street level and there is a large stone wall along the edge.  We walked on the sidewalk at the top and I saw a fun way down.  there was a tall but skinny tree just next to the wall.  I climbed onto the wall, leaned over to the trunk of the tree, and hugged it tight with my arms.  I moved my legs over to the trunk and then slid down about 25 or 30 feet to the ground.  It was fun, but that was not my climb for the day.

We started to walk through the park talking as I looked for a good tree.  The trees at Riverside are quite tall with no low limbs.  New York does well to keep their park trees well pruned preventing easy climbs.  There are also many sycamores with very large trunks and smooth bark making shimmying difficult.  I eventually saw a very tall oak tree that seemed like a possibility. 

The thick trunk had a spattering of small limbs before the trunk split into large leader branches about 15 or 20 feet up. 

Ted seemed a little surprised that I was considering this tree.  He thought there was no way those tiny limbs at the bottom would hold my weight.  I told him it was just a matter of weight distribution.  So I found a way to get started and muscled my way up through the small branches. 

I was doing some moves that even shocked me like a one armed vertical push-up.  That might not make any sense, but think of it as a one armed dip but without the downward part.  Anyway, I got to the large limbs and had to stop and do some figuring.  The two limbs split like a V but was a bit of a reach for me around the trunk.  I was standing on tiny branches and held myself with my left arm on the trunk.  I knew I could do it if I could get that left arm over the top of the closest large branch.  But if I didn’t find a secure hold with my right hand I would fall.  Ted watched below and told me what I already knew I had to do.  Another man walking two dogs walked by and stopped to watch.  Apparently he said to Ted that if I didn’t know what I was doing that it was very dangerous.  He wanted to call the cops so they would be prepared if something bad happened.  Ted did a good job convincing him that I am experienced and to not call the cops. 

Meanwhile I figured out I could grip a small offshoot branch with my right hand and reached my left around the large branch.  I hung underneath then inched up till I got a foot hold on top. 

From there the climb was challenging but I saw a path to the top. 

The beginning of the climb had fatigued my arms so I went slowly and carefully.  The guy with the dogs remained at a distance watching. 

Ted stayed just below but he got so small I couldn’t see his facial expressions. 

I made my way up to the very top of this tall oak and it seemed I was about 70 – 80 feet above the ground. 

Since the park is below street level I couldn’t see much of Manhattan,

but I had a decent view of the Hudson and Hoboken across the water. 

The trees of Riverside are also very consistent in their tall height so I really didn’t have a clear view over the trees. 

But I was incredibly happy with this climb.  It is probably one of the most challenging trees I have ever climbed.  It was a true accomplishment that I was happy to share with Ted, but sorry Nate wasn’t there to see because I think this is what he was looking for.  

When I was done shooting pictures I started to climb back down.  I had accrued some bloody minor injuries on my hand and the blood was oozing out.  I tried my best to get the blood more on the tree and not on my clothes.  I am leaving my mark, I guess.  I reversed all my steps back down to the V branches.  I took a couple more pictures and checked for the dog walker.  He had since moved on.  I successfully transferred back to the small limbs and went down to the muddy ground.  I was exhausted and my muscles were tight.  Ted told me the story of how the guy almost called the cops on me as I took a few more shots of the tree from the ground. 

Later we headed to a bar to have some beers and catch up.  Then that night we met my brother and his friend, Kevin, for drinks.  It was another good day in New York with an amazing climb.  But I only had one guy see me climb today and he wanted to call the cops.  That is not a good sign.  I don’t need any more reason to be nervous.