Insomnia

Sometimes it sucks to be me... right now is definitely one of those times.

I have to work at 6:30 tomorrow. This is not usually a problem; I like working the morning shifts.  

The problem lies in the fact that it is 12:33 AM and I cannot sleep.

Why? Because I am a thinker.

Being a THINKER has it's ups and downs.  Generally, I enjoy escaping into my own little world and waxing philosophical about life, love the pursuit of happiness.  My head is a haven from the rest of the world.  My overactive imagination is actually one of my favorite qualities about myself. Sometimes, though, it comes and bites me in the ass! 

Thinking leads to more thinking.  One little iota of an idea grows and grows into this entire metropolis of things that could happen or should have happened or did happen.  YIKES!! 

Tonight's train of thought has led me to a list.  A list I think I will share with you.  Here, my dear readers, is a list of things I want in life: (beware of sub-categories)

1- a career

-that has a future

-that has benefits

-that I enjoy doing everyday

-(I tried and tried to come up with examples of actual careers I wanted to have, and I honestly DO NOT KNOW... and this is a terrible feeling). 

2- a significant other 

-who has a career they enjoy

- who wants a future (preferably with me)

-who also wants the same things on this list

3- to Travel 

-and to have the means to do it right

-a significant other to join me would me a huge bonus

-to live in another country for at least three months 

4- to one day own land

-5+ acres

-a veggie garden

-custom-design my home on that land

5- to one day own my own business

-a cafe/bar

-a sustainable and eco-friendly policy

-local and home-grown veggies! 

6- to learn how to be completely self-sufficient

-financially

-emotionally

-environmentally (ie: solar panels and water wheels)

7- to hone my creative side

-write a book

-learn how to solder silver

-become a better photographer 

There are not a lot of things on this list. I feel fairly confident I can accomplish over 75% in my lifetime and at least one in the next two years. (I'll keep you posted)

So now, at 1AM, I am going to hope that my list making has calmed my brain enough so that I might catch 40 winks- or whatever the phrase is.   

I know that when my friends come back from a trip that was really exciting, I want to hear all about it.  And I know that most of you are expecting that from me... But I tell you, a trip like this is just so boundless I am having trouble finding the right words for you guys.  So in this instance, all I can give you is these: 

Out of Africa...

I'm home!!! And I have 1,950 pictures to go through, and about 3 hours of video footage, so please be patient while I get readjusted to Mountain Time and Mountain Life... in the meantime, here are three of my favorites that I was able to do a quick edit on... 

Boom Boom Boom!

First of all, Elu has been returned safe and sound, thank goodness! And I'm also sitting for Safety, Adam's dog. So Sunday I took the kids to the boulder fields for a little romp in the woods and figured I do a little bit of climbing as well. The temperature dropped after the huge storm Saturday night, so the friction was good and it wasn't so miserably muggy to be climbing.

When I pulled up my buddy Dave was in the parking lot, unloading the BOOM...

{aside: The boom is an apparatus built for the aide in taking bad-ass pictures while hanging from a rock. Basically it pulls you out from the rock about 15-20 feet so that you have a better downward angle. The difference of 20 feet makes a HUGE difference in the way the picture looks. It will take a shot from this
(http://www.supertopo.com/photos/0/8/122325_10770_L.jpg)

to making it look a little more something like this:
(http://www.highexposures.com/jencrux.jpg)

(Neither of these are pictures I've taken since I haven't taken any from above on a route yet, just making sure you get the point.) }




SO Dave has the boom, and all the gear to set it up, so we can test it out. I can't really begin to tell you all about all the set-up this boom requires, it's nuts! we've got a 200 foot rope, two ascenders, a grigi, a reverso, and ridiculous amount of carabiners to suspend this thing from the ground. After much fiddling and hooking and me not paying attention to how he did it this thing was hooked up and ready for me to LIFT...

Harness on, locked in and learning to jumar, or ascend the rope. Ok, so pulling myself up the rope is not that hard, I'm used to using my legs and arms to pull my 120 pounds directly upwards... I've learned how to use every muscle in my body, working together to do such a thing. Okay, now this boom does not weigh as much as I do, however it's dead weight. SO I've got to get above the Boom, lock off, put my foot in a rung of the rope ladder, rest the boom on my knee, pull up the reverso first, then the ascender and use two hands to move the boom up about 3 feet. THEN I start all over, me up, lock, foot, reverso, pull.

When I get the boom to where I want it to be, I simply kick off from the rock as hard as I can and grab the boom, walking my way out to the end of it, and tie off so that I'm away from the rock. Overall, a really cool way to wear yourself out and get some cool pictures...

Still no ELU...

So after having done all I can do to find my dog, with no avail, I called Khoury, he was headed to the boulder fields... so I hopped in the car and headed towards Hoover. Upon arrival, I find that Scott is there too. We're in for a little night session. The boys "warmed up" on Super Trip (way out of my grade level at a V6,7,8? I don't even know off hand) so I went and worked on "pregnancy" it's a v2. I sent it.

We reconvened at "tree problem." aptly named in that the hardest part of the problem is keeping your ass off the tree. I took lots of pictures of them climbing this particular problem. Several angles, all quite artsy and fancy, but they need some photo-shoping for added pizazz. But these are my two favorites of each of them:

Scott Ballard

Khoury Wood
After they got tired, they were nice enough to come spot me on Cheese is Good (v2; more my speed) I jumped up on it right away and had no problem throwing to the second move, and then even the third, but my foot slipped and I fell off and to the right, missing the pad almost completely and I was kinda sketched out for the night. I did continue to get up on it, but, as Khoury put it, I lacked commitment. But we only climb for the pictures anyway, right? So here's some shots of me on Cheese:

First attempt... making it to the right hand rail...


then second attempt able to get that left hand side pull, but the right hand didn't want to follow as smoothly...
Here's a shot from the start... just checking it out

Well, a pretty eventful Monday night, at least I got one send in (even if no one was around to see it)

Why do we climb?

Sometimes when I'm out bouldering I start to wonder, "Why the hell am I doing this?" Especially when I know that if I just stood up, I could be on top of the rock. It amazes me the strange positions we attempt to put our bodies into and the amount of time it takes us to move two feet to top out a boulder.


I went to Horse Pens 40 yesterday evening and just couldn't seem to get the motivation to lift my ass off the ground- literally. I'm sitting on the pad with this beautiful formation in front of me with AWESOME positive holds for my hands and pretty solid feet, but I was missing the key ingredient- core. I sat there and starred at this rock for a good minute, just begging my body to tighten up and stand UP! This is one of those times when I asked myself "why do I climb?"


I left HP40 (slightly disappointed in my not-so-hot climbing performance) and drove back to Hoover to spend the rest of the evening playing photographer. I love climbing, and I love taking pictures, and now I've managed to find a way to do both. The boys have been projecting a problem called Serenity Now. It's a V8... like the juice. It's on an overhung slab at about 45 degrees and it's a highball to boot. We had to anchor in to the slab below just to hold the pads in place.

When they first started this project- we had 5 or 6 spotters and 8 or so pads, Khoury and Tyler have become so dedicated that they will do it with two pads and only one spotter (me on camera, so if they asked me to I could put the camera down and spot...)

Why do we climb? The pictures, of course!!!




Tyler and Khoury started a trend, others wanted to try it out too...

Why do we climb? Adrenaline!

But at the end of the night, (without an ascent) we packed it in with plans for tomorrows attempt...

Why do we climb? Passion!!

Why do we climb?



I cannot speak for everyone, but after ending my evening with the guys and their project I was reminded of some things:

1- I just started climbing, and if I stick with it, I too, will be doing ridiculous projects that get you out of bed in the morning

2- Climbing is not only physical strength, but also mental

3- Everyone looks like a bad-ass when they climb (especially in pictures)

4- I climb because it reminds me that I have to take it one step at a time, or I'll fall off the rock, but if I'm climbing with the right people, someone is always going to be there when I fall