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Letters from an Artist

July, 2005

7-31-05
"What do I do now, Dad?" Lisa called as she sailed away from me on the windsurfer.
"Just keep going" I shouted, "You're sailing!"
"But don't I need to grab the sail with both hands or something?"
"Nah, don't worry, you're doing fine" I said, realizing that she was beyond shouting distance and beginning to paddle after her on my spare shorty windsurfer. This was her first attempt at windsurfing and she took to it like she was born to it, which in a way she was. Sue sailed when she was pregnant with Lisa, and as she grew up I was sailing constantly, maybe she remembers some of the moves, or perhaps it's just her natural physical ability and the sport is easy.
   She had some trouble at first figuring out some of the basic sailing logic, such as: What does it mean to put the boat across the wind, and what does "downwind" mean. Once she figured out that she needed to pull the sail out of the water and let it luff, with the sail pointing downwind she began to get her sea legs. After that, I told her to make sure that the boat was pointing ninety degrees to the direction of the wind.
   I called that the 'neutral position', and once she mastered that, the wind just naturally began shoving the boat forward. From there it was an easy step for her to grab the boom and she took off across the water so fast I wasn't able to keep up on my paddle board. She had trouble at the turns of course, and was refused to get off and stand in the shallow bottom, saying it was "icky!" She also got freaked out by the lily pad area...it's funny how she can be 17 one minute and 8 the next.
   Still, we had a great time doing something together other than rock climbing. She'd always wanted to try wind surfing and today was her lucky day. I enjoyed the break from climbing. I love it, but too much of a good thing can be bad. It tends to distort your perspective. Sue's been having a hard time keeping her spirits up. She can't climb, can't windsurf, can't do anything fun other than hike, and that got canceled the last two Fridays for a couple different reasons: rain, scheduling conflicts. This summer is just a bad summer for her, almost as bad as being pregnant, but without the glow of pregnancy. I'm not looking forward to going though that if I get my knees worked on.

7-29-05
Lisa and I climbed at the gym yesterday for the first time. I'd volunteered there twice before, but this was the first time anyone from the family had seen it. She seemed to like it and I had fun climbing with her. She has a great personality, very easy going, doesn't have a chip on her shoulder like so many people I run into these days. We seem to have done a reasonably good job of raising a teenager. I only wished Sue could have been there. She is having a rough summer off, waiting for her shoulder to heal after surgery. We all go out and have fun, but she can only watch.
Clint bought a used kayak from someone who had an ad on paddling.net. The seller actually turned out to be our long lost friend Will G., who we'd not seen in 20 years. He stopped climbing years ago but got into sea kayaking and had a boat just like Clint's that he didn't want because it was too much of a beginner boat. I think it is a good boat for the price, and it's good to know that Will had owned it for a while since he definitely knows kayaks.

I had a great time climbing with M. L. and H. S. up at a new climbing cliff called "the far side". It's just a mile away from our normal cliff up at exit 38, but because I've climbed there for 8 years, and just got the book a month ago it was my first visit. We had a little difficulty finding the correct trail amongst a series of branching trails in deep forest, but after about half an hour we walked out into brilliant sunlight on a ledge about 400 feet above Interstate 90. We were directly above the road, perhaps only a couple pitches away horizontally. There were lovely lines of closely spaced bolts heading up the cliff in all directions but I had eyes for only one: It was the 4 star route I'd read about and looked to be even better than the description. The name, of course, was: "Endless Bliss".
    Neither M. L.or H. S. looked anxious to lead it due to the 5.10a rating, but to me it looked more like a stiff 5.8 route as it was far from vertical and reminded me of many friction climbs in the pinnacles and Joshua Tree. The rock had a delightful rough texture providing footholds just about anywhere. Best of all were the closely spaced bolts, 16 in all on the 140 foot route with a bolt at least every every 6 feet, sometimes as close as every 4 feet. There were 2 thin spots, but the bolts were right there, both above and below the hard move so I never felt overextended. Anytime I got gripped, I looked around and there was a nice foothold, or at least a good smear.
    It was the finest route I've climbed since I found 5 gallon buckets down at Smith about 10 years ago. I cruised right up it, only slowing down twice in some tricky spots, but the fear factor was minimal due to the very close bolt spacing. M.L. and H.S. followed it in fine style, both commenting on the beauty of the route.
   Back on the ground M.L. set his sights on a 5.9 to the left. It was rated easier than "continuous bliss", but turned out to be far harder, heading straight up a chossy overhang. The rock looked like it was totally rotten but turned out to be surprisingly solid. M.L. cruised up it with only a short hang leaving the second pitch for me.
   It was much harder than "continuous bliss" due to a steeper aspect. In about 70 feet I had to hang on bolts 4 times because there were no rest spots where one could gather ones wits. As soon as I relaxed on the rope, I immediately saw all the holds I was missing. This is a great new area! Whoever is putting up the routes is doing a fantastic job: the bolts are very nicely spaced and drilled with precision and care. I can't wait to get back up there.

7-22-05
Almost two weeks have gone by since I wrote last. Last weekend I went climbing with 5 people. Sue went, but didn't climb. Lisa went, along with two of my new climbing friends. H.S. is someone I met online a month ago when I was looking for a partner at Smith Rocks. The 5th person to come along was N.D. with whom I had a great trip a few weeks ago.
    As I suspected, Sue and N.D. got along like a house afire. It was great seeing Sue having fun with a girlfriend. Sue doesn't try very hard to make female friends, but once she gets to know someone she let's her guard down and has a blast. A couple of times I had to butt in and tell her she was distracting my climbing partner.
   H.S. is a nice guy and a very safe climber. He's a bit rusty, and a little out of shape, but his ironic sense of humor and affable nature makes him a perfectly acceptable partner. At least he always wants to go, and this can sometimes be as important as leading ability.
   Lisa was probably the strongest follower of the bunch, although H.S. came close. When I got home from climbing I had a message from the local climbing gym asking me if I still wanted to volunteer. I called them up, then dropped in on Monday to take the belay test and sign up to be a volunteer on Friday.
  Now it's Friday evening and I have a 2 hour session of volunteering behind me. I was nervous going in, never having belayed in a gym before, and I've certainly never been the "official" belayer at a birthday party for 10 year olds. It turned out to be quite easy, just follow them around and belay whenever they saw a route they'd like to do.
  As I belayed the party kids, I noticed the gym slowly filling up with what appeared to be the Friday night bouldering scene. This was a bunch of buffed out studs climbing without shirts over in the bouldering area. There was one really good guy who was working on bouldering out of a cave as 7 people watched with apt concentration. It must have been a really hard move as he kept jumping off at the crux.
   In watching those young studs swarm up the hard moves I realized with something of a shock that I could easily get sucked into the "climbing" lifestyle via the gym. I really don't have the time in my life to devote 8 hours a week to climbing after work. It's tempting, but I'd be totally ignoring my never ending quest to learn programming. I'd be having more fun, but fun doesn't pay the bills.

7-11-05
Clint and I went sea kayaking yesterday (Sunday) in Puget Sound. We got caught in a rain squall that brought in some scary waves. It was supposed to be a casual afternoon of kayaking out at M.L.'s house in order to see if Clint wanted to buy M.L.'s used kayak. I paddled Clint's Pigmy sea kayak and Clint paddled M.L.'s boat, also a home built, but of a different brand.
   I've paddled canoes in heavy weather, but never a single sea kayak where I was the sole source of stability. Because it was my first paddling trip of the season, I was a very tentative paddler, but after the first hour I began to get my sea legs under me. I had about two hours of comfortable paddling before we saw dark gray clouds heading our way.
   Shortly we found ourselves paddling across a stiff 1 foot chop at a 45 degree angle. Rain was pouring down in buckets, the wind was almost blowing the tops off the waves and it was difficult to keep my kayak pointed correctly. It wanted to either surf straight downwind with the swells or aligned parallel with them, which would have led to a capsize. The only way to stay on our diagonal course was to paddle continuously at maximum effort.
   We'd tried to minimize the danger by staying close to shore, but even in 3 feet of water Clint's boat was making me wonder about whether I could exit safely. He's added in some thigh braces which make it much harder to exit the boat. I needed some practice time to assure myself I could get out quickly in a capsize. Unfortunately, there was no time for practice, and I paddled desperately through the rain, wind and scary chop to keep the boat upright so I wouldn't have to find out if I could do a wet exit. Consequently, my hands are killing me today as I sit at my computer and try to type.
   Saturday I should have spend the day studying PHP, but instead I sat on the couch and veg'd out with a good book. I kept thinking I ought to get up and do some studying at the laptop, but my need for veg time over powered my work ethic.
      When we returned from our kayaking adventure Sunday, I found that the sugar ant infestation had worsened and spent the evening transporting Sue's garden, all 5 wheelbarrow loads, into the back forty. She'd planted it so close to the house that the siding was merging with the dirt and we suspect the ants got into the house through the damp wood. This looks like it will be an ongoing battle, and tonight I get to crawl under the house to look for the nest.

7-5-05
Had a great trip on the 4th of July. Lisa, Sue and I stayed at my aunt and uncle's house next door to the Peshastin Pinnacles. Uncle Ed and Aunt Mary Ellen are the poster children for growing old gracefully. Like my mom and dad, they've been married over fifty years and are very funny to be around, with a great outlook on life. Also, like my folks, their kids were out doing their own thing on the holidays, and they were simply happy to see some family. We really appreciated their hospitality, especially with Sue having trouble sleeping due to her recent shoulder surgery.
     My best day of climbing was when I tried the difficult 5.7/5.8 to the left of the roofy 5.8 at Mad Meadows. I'd actually backed off the scary little climb a few years ago and never repeated it. This weekend, I was warmed up (3 weekends in a row) and was able to cruise up onto the thin holds in perfect confidence and balance. As I made the easy clips, I found myself wondering how I could have ever thought it was harder than the steep, roofy 5.8 to it's right. There is a big jug for at least one hand or foot at all times, and usually there is a jug for a foot and a hand at the same time. It never forces you onto the kind of blank terrain (no foot or hand holds) that sends icy fingers of terror up the spine. There is a steady succession of dependable holds that make climbing and clipping a delight.

    Lisa was my partner all weekend and did a great job of belaying her old dad. She is a natural climber and seems to be able to work though just about anything she comes across on the cliffs. Sue got fairly bored hanging out at the bottom of the routes but at least she had someone to talk to, instead of being left behind at home.
      Before I left the office Friday night, I printed out Monday's Illustrator handout so I wouldn't have to rush in early Monday morning. When we got home from climbing, I spent an hour reviewing the handout to be ready for the lecture first thing Monday morning. As my classroom filled up this morning, I was surprised at how many of my students were in the wrong room. I thought they were maybe waiting for their real instructor J.M., to open the other classroom. I counted up the students from my Monday class and commented aloud that we had an unusually low attendance, only 6 people. There were way too many students in the room from J.M.'s class, so I finally asked one of them if he knew he was in the wrong room. He looked at me strangely and said, "But Mark, you know this is Tuesday don't you?" Long pause...Sigh. I was able to switch gears, after running back to the copy machine for the correct handouts. I guess I played a little too hard on the weekend. I'm overdue for a 'stay at home' rest weekend. Climbing is great, and I love it, but one can get too much of a good thing.