In front of God, my "partner in climb" (not pictured below) and the tourists on the National Mall, I climbed a tree on Friday, September 6, 2009. I discovered several things while doing this:
- I should remember when I'm going to take these adventures so that I won't be caught looking less than lovely on camera.
- I am a teensy bit afraid of heights.
- Tree bark hurts a bit.
- Sometimes people who come along to "help" really just want to laugh.
- Tree climbing makes a good metaphor for life. Think about it- You see a tree and you think, sure, I'll climb it. Why not? Looks fun! But then it's hard, and you have no clue what you're doing, until you figure out how to put one foot in front of the other. Then of course there's the matter of getting to the top, reaching the goal, and having no clue what comes next (i.e. how to get down from the tree).
This is me examining the tree.
Whoa! I'm the tree! Score! I'm exciiiited.
Attempt number one at getting higher, because hopping into the tree just didn't seem satisfactory. No guts no glory right?
One word: struggle.
Still riding the struggle bus...
But enjoying it!
Clearly the "What am I doing with my life and what have I gotten myself into?" moment.
Victory!
And now we report the news!
(And demonstrate the results of yoga apparently, with the oddly positioned foot.)
Not pictured here is the "What happens next?" moment, where I had to figure out how to get down from the tree. It wasn't pretty, but some folks were amused. Luckily for me, the camera's battery had died, so you all only see the triumph. Good times no?
