Arriba, adentro de los arboles
The title means (I hope!), "Up, inside the Trees!"
For my Honors Senior Project I'm going to be giving a presentation about tree climbing, specifically tree climbing in Orange County. Those of you who know me have probably had to drag me away from a tree on at least one occation. It is far away my favorite sport, and one of the things that brings me the most peace. I could go on, but I'm afraid I already sound like a dirty hippie. Anyway, those of us who've really been tree climbing know that it rules beyond what can be expressed without hyperbole.
So, to help me research my project, and just for fun: who has tree-climbing stories to share? And if you know of any choice trees in the Orange County area, please please PLEASE let me know about them so that I can report on them in class. And if you can't think of any tree climbing experiences worth relating to the rest of us, for your own good, go out and HAVE ONE! Even if you just hang from a lower branch, it might very well turn a humdrum day into something meaningful.
posted by Aaron at 2:05 PM
7 Comments:
When I was young there was a creek by my house. There were huge fields you had to walk through to get to them. There was this one spot with a larger pool of water and a giant tree with a rope swing on it. My friend Craig and I would climb the tree and watch the water slow down the creek. The tree had 3 good sitting spots that were pretty high up. Someone even added some wood steps nailed to the tree later, but it was more fun having to figure a way up on your own.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
As an avid tree-climber myself, i quite relate to this last blog. Grant can verify that the San Jose/Los Gatos area has no lack of excellent trees to climb with many parks and great views. i remeber climbing great oak trees in the parks of Vasona and Oak Meadows in Los Gatos and various other locations roundabout the excellently treeful South Bay. We have three Birch Trees that grow in front of my house in San Jose and i have often climbed the only one which has a branch low enough to reach just for fun. Also, my best friend from home has a few trees in his front yard which i have climbed on a number of occasions. All that aside however, i would like to relate an adventurous and scary story related with tree climbing! Here goes: when i was about seven or so (i think) my brother and i climbed up the Wisteria Tree (it's more like a vine but it was really old, so it was like a tree) up on top of our back porch. We could get from the top of the porch overhang onto the roof quite easily and i climbed it often when i was little despite my mom's not liking it very much. Well, on this occasion we were done with our job of putting up Christmas lights and i had already climbed down the tree. my brother was stuck on his way down and my mom said, 'aaron, go help your brother!' or something to that extent. i ran over toward the base of the Wisteria and triped on a loose brick sticking up out of the patio floor, gashing my face on a tree stump. i covered it immediately with my hand and ran over to my mom crying my head off, to which she asked semi-calmly, 'What is it honey?' Needless to say, when i removed my hand and my face was gushing blood right near my right eye she freaked out. We got a warm towel on it and rushed to the emergency room only to wait a while before i could be treated (just like my other emergency room experience this past summer actually). Eventually i did get in there and ended up with seven stiches and eventually a crescent moon shaped scar next to my right eye. Even through this traumatic experience, i didn't lose any of my luster for tree uppiting (indeed, why would i?) and hey, chicks dig scars, right?! At any rate, i think i am going to pick a tree someplace around Salzburg and climb that thing like there's no tomorrow. Thanks for the inspiration and Rock and Roll on that tree climbing presentation! -AC-
Thanks for the comments, you guys!
Grant, I agree wholeheartedly that even though wooden steps can make climbing a tree easier, they take away some of the satisfaction of finding your own route up.
Rope swings are also rad. Someone out there should do a presentation on rope swinging!
AC - So did they leave your brother up there when they took you to the hospital?? I mean, that would really suck for him, but I kind of hope so, since that would make the story like a million times funnier.
Not that it really IS funny -- little kids getting hurt is never cool. But chicks do dig scars! Especially moon shaped ones! It's like lucky charms.
Let me know how the climbing in Salzburg goes. I enjoyed some tree-climbing in Spain and specifically in the Alhambra! There are pictures somewhere, perhaps I'll post them.
Who else has tree stories????
All I could think of was, what happened to his brother?? Was he still stuck up in the wisteria while they were at the hospital? Is he still there??
i can neither confirm nor deny the state nor location of my brother upon the family trip to the emergency room. However, thank you for your concern. i will consult the authorities on this matter and report back as quickly as possible.
Hello curious and worried Blog Posters! Here is a two-part response from my mother!
'It was so long ago. I think what you have there is pretty accurate. Since you were about 7, that means Travis was about 4, climbing up in the tree!!! Dad says he stayed home with Travis, who we did get out of the tree, while I took you to the hospital. I didn't remember, I thought we all went, but that's what he said. All I do remember is feeling really bad when we saw all that blood. 'Cus having missed part of the mother gene, we didn't realize that you were really hurt till you pulled your hand and face away from my side. Also, I remember how brave you were when they were stitching you up.'
also...
'You know I really don't remember how many [stiches] you had, that sounds about right. But, I don't think you had been putting up Christmas lights. I think you guys were just climbing back there and I didn't know it right away. I seem to remember it was later in the day, early evening.'
So! Thanks to all for your concern. It seems my brother was successfully retrieved from the tree and a few other details have been corrected as well! The past has a tricky way of changing details in your brain...
Post a Comment
<< Home