Three in a Row
Monday, August 22, 2005
There are those days where everything feels good and right and I’m so grateful to have them every once in a while to help keep me optimistic… And today makes three in a row. I’m amazed that a day like today can follow such a great weekend. Work was a bit of a snooze and at the retreat everyone just talked and talked and talked all at the same time. It wasn’t a complete waste. I learned a bit about the department and I believe some issues were resolved but overall I was less than enthused. After the retreat I went outside and the weather was amazing. 80ish, Sunny, and a great breeze. Beautiful blue skies with a few clouds cruising by. I went home and opened up all the windows to really allow my apartment to air out. It’s a nice, cool apartment but the price of the coolness is moisture so it usually feels slightly damp a lot. Not Today! Talked to the Blonde Lady briefly on the phone, her day seemed as bright as mine, then I grabbed my yoga gear, hopped on the bike and went for a cruise. Days like today were made for motorcycles. I wish I could describe the ride but I don’t think I could do it justice. Being on a motorcycle on a clear day in the country is something magical. The smells are always the first thing I notice; you smell every flower, every plant… And the colors… It’s all just so intense, not something you can get from looking through a windshield.
Went to yoga class where we focused on adho mukha vrksasana and going into it from bakasana. We played with the core strength necessary to do these poses and transition through them. Michael demonstrated a few things and I’m always in awe of how easy he makes them look. I’m looking forward to the day when I can do them that easy. I know it’s just practice and being patient and I’m willing to do both. He actually used me for a demonstration a couple of times, which is rare, so I was a little flattered (bad ego, bad). I also approached him yesterday about subbing for his classes if he needed it and he actually asked me today if I would be available Wednesday mornings, unfortunately I’m not. But at least he’s interested! We also did some partner work that was fun. My partner was Jesse and the interesting thing about her was that after I dropped the Blonde Lady at the train station yesterday I was driving back and saw a group of sky divers near the ridge and I thought it looked like so much fun, well, she was one of them. So class was a blast and then a beautiful ride home in the twilight. There is an herb farm on the way to my house and the smell of it when I rode by tonight was pretty amazing.
I came home to an apartment with no power but it doesn’t really matter. It just means I get to have a candle lit evening to finish out my wonderful day.
I’m grateful to the universe for allowing this wonderment that is my life.
posted by Chris at 8:40 PM Permalink
4 Comments:
Okay you have me in nostagia mode.....highlights of my climbing in the gunks...okay first off not really "climbing" anything...as the official cleaner....first time mock lead....my husband climbed, placed all the pro, set up top rope. cleaned as he descended, handed me the rack...all the pro IN ORDER...how much easier can you get....then sends me up with a rope to clip (but of course I am also on a SLACK top rope for that little bit of comfort...)....anyway, there were like 10 pieces to place I think( maybe 8)....half of them I placed were shit (according to Craig). There was one bolt at the bottom...from memory this was a 5'7 on the Trapps wall....off to the right a bit, one pitch....not hard, in fact probably the crux was gettin off the ground....anyway...in addition to placing half of the pro incorrectly I clipped below my last piece of pro once AND I clipped my shoelace....and this was all just one climb!
Next bit was a major swing I took...now as a cleaner/follower it is hard to fall actually, unless your belayer falls asleep.....I think this was near trapps (the smaller of the 2 walls) about half way down....second pitch starts from a lovely ledge with heaps of room and good achor placements....can easily remove shoes for instance... goes up a open book type of crack, which finishes at a HUGE (okay in my memory) rough, then you traverse oh maybe 20 feet off to the left, hit the crux move (it is a 5'8 by the way) little overhang where the roof has come back in towards the main wall....so, C heads off and then all of a sudden I start getting these really f'd up belay demands....like slack on red, tight on blue (we climb with 2 ropes BTW-mountaineering hangover)...then he switches and wants tight on red, slack on blue....and this is like URGENT and went on for awhile....anyway, it turns out he completely f'd the crux, by clipping below the pro, and with two ropes this becomes a night mare fast....so he had to go up and down over the crux like three times to sort his shit out...in the meanwhile I am sitting there not able to see annything...thinking he is such an imbecile...anyway....I finally here that he is off and I can get going myself....although at this point I am slightly tramatized from the belaying circus act i had to perform for him...so we argue about whether I am even going to move....eventually I do...remember I am already one pitch up....so I start up...and it is really cool...I get up the crack and traverse over so that I can get a good perve at the cruz overhang...C can now talk to me about how to go about it...he is up and off to the right....and this is important...up and to the right about 15-20 feet from where I am....so I go for the overhang, pretty much thinking I am going to come off...and I do...but what Craig did not tell me is that he did not place any pro between the crux and him....20 or so feet to the right of where I was....this meant as i fell not only did I come off with its usually terror...but swang all the way out into space...remember the roof....christ, I have never screamed so loud....al Craig saw was my feet come out from under the roof and then loose them again as I swang back in....until i settoled clinging for dear life and so scared! I am to this day not sure why I married him...
ANyway....go find the climb it is a nice one...just be sure to place pro after the crux to keep any loved ones that might be following from the same fate....i had to be lowered down to the first belay stance as there was no way I could access the the wall...TOTAL SPACE!
Have fun!
cheers SMN
8/22/2005 9:25 PM
Wow, Ok, I can understand clipping below your pro, that's not so uncommon, but I'm really impressed you clipped your shoe lace, that takes a lot of skill. :) (you know, I'm not even sure how you did that)
In my opinion you don't have to be leading trad to be "climbing".
I'll try to find these routes. I think I know where the first one is, where the first move is really bouldery. I haven't checked out the near trapps yet, I'm still in awe of the trapps.
Thanks for sharing, I can always use a good smile!
8/23/2005 9:53 AM
Christopher...I don't understand...why do you think you are supposed to jump back with arms straight? That is terribly stressful on the shoulders. I was taught to jump back with slightly bent elbows so as to take the work in the muscles, not the joints. So, the jump-back is directly into chatturanga, not plank and then chatturanga. Am I not understanding what you meant? Lauren
8/23/2005 11:27 AM
Lauren- What I'm meant was the lifting and pivoting back. Once the legs are on their way back, bend the arms to chatturanga. Actually, the best way to picture it/think about it is think of going from seated to handstand and then dropping into chatturanga. That's really the direction it's going. And trust me, this is deffinitely all on the muscles. It's the same muscles you use to jump the feet between the hands in the sun salutations if you keep your legs straight and set the feet in place vs. "Landing"
8/23/2005 11:40 AM
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