Saturday, August 26, 2006
Life is good these days:
In working out at a local climbing gym the few weeks, I can feel my forearms coming along and getting stronger. Reclaiming that feeling of moving my body over the holds, feeling every little detail on the holds as they go by is delicious. Last night I met a good Belgian climber who is on holiday here. We bouldered together for a good hour. I hadn't had that in quite that way in over fifteen years. What a treat: Watching someone really good, talking over the moves, trying different things myself, receiving good advice, talking over the States and Europe a little bit, just a magical experience. I felt 20 years younger. I gave him my cell phone number and email. Perhaps he'll write sometime.
And on climbing, it sometimes surprises me at how complex a given move can be in terms of geometry, the shapes of the holds, the directional forces the holds allow and generate because of that shape, the myriad muscles involved. It not surprising that I miss how to do them here and there. Last night, I was working a move straight up over an overhang. The hands were on good holds that were a little sloping. I kept trying to find higher feet directly under the hands not quite realizing that that tends to push the body out away from the rock and make the sloping hands holds worse. The Belgian recommended a foot hold out right that I thought looked too high, b ut when I tried it, my body instantly came in closer, and I could reach farther and almost got the move. With fresh forearms, it will certainly go next time.
A little later, I used the very same technique on a vertical wall, and recognized right away that I had just done so, and wondered: why didn't I think of that over there? Something about the overhang and the sloping holds had me a little confused on my approach.
One another note, I've reconnected with an old friend from high school and it's been a delightful series of emails and conversations about music, books, and life. The thoughts are long, multifaceted, and on the same wavelength. So she loaned me six CD's I've never heard, some by artists I've never heard of. I look forward to new sounds and styles. I'll say this: Good friends are really something to savor when you're my age and they don't just happen along every day.
And then there's this: I've had Beethoven's 9th in the car for a few days now. Do I really need to say anything else? For me, that piece really is all it's cracked up to be and even a lot more. Simply stupendous!
In working out at a local climbing gym the few weeks, I can feel my forearms coming along and getting stronger. Reclaiming that feeling of moving my body over the holds, feeling every little detail on the holds as they go by is delicious. Last night I met a good Belgian climber who is on holiday here. We bouldered together for a good hour. I hadn't had that in quite that way in over fifteen years. What a treat: Watching someone really good, talking over the moves, trying different things myself, receiving good advice, talking over the States and Europe a little bit, just a magical experience. I felt 20 years younger. I gave him my cell phone number and email. Perhaps he'll write sometime.
And on climbing, it sometimes surprises me at how complex a given move can be in terms of geometry, the shapes of the holds, the directional forces the holds allow and generate because of that shape, the myriad muscles involved. It not surprising that I miss how to do them here and there. Last night, I was working a move straight up over an overhang. The hands were on good holds that were a little sloping. I kept trying to find higher feet directly under the hands not quite realizing that that tends to push the body out away from the rock and make the sloping hands holds worse. The Belgian recommended a foot hold out right that I thought looked too high, b ut when I tried it, my body instantly came in closer, and I could reach farther and almost got the move. With fresh forearms, it will certainly go next time.
A little later, I used the very same technique on a vertical wall, and recognized right away that I had just done so, and wondered: why didn't I think of that over there? Something about the overhang and the sloping holds had me a little confused on my approach.
One another note, I've reconnected with an old friend from high school and it's been a delightful series of emails and conversations about music, books, and life. The thoughts are long, multifaceted, and on the same wavelength. So she loaned me six CD's I've never heard, some by artists I've never heard of. I look forward to new sounds and styles. I'll say this: Good friends are really something to savor when you're my age and they don't just happen along every day.
And then there's this: I've had Beethoven's 9th in the car for a few days now. Do I really need to say anything else? For me, that piece really is all it's cracked up to be and even a lot more. Simply stupendous!
# posted by goldpython @ 6:33 AM 
