Saturday, October 20, 2007

Ascent


I am no fantastic climber... but I do love it. What is it about climbing that is so attractive?

Maybe it's the serenity - ascending a rock... feeling the breeze on your back and the sun on your shoulders... friends laughing down below... the joy of sliding your fingers into the perfect pocket or positioning your fingers just right in a crack... finding a beautiful jug at just the right moment... hearing your own breath...

Most definitely it is the challenge - being just at the brink of tumbling towards the earth... getting pumped and pushing through it... learning to position your body... to place your feet and to trust that it's going to hold.... to utilize balance... learning to be creative and to not limit yourself... legs and arms beginning to shake... looking just a little bit further to find possibility. Where else can you put your life on the line in such an almost assuredly safe way?

And obviously, it's the beauty - the texture of limestone... the colors of the rock against the sky... the profile of a climber... the reflection of the sun from a quickdraw... the cloud of chalk as it's blown from a climber's hands... the smooth style of a master climber...

And at the end of the day, as I walk away from the routes with dusty feet and chalky... maybe even bloody hands, I know that I've spent my day in a beautiful way.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

How To Not Get Tickled

I am a teacher. I get to hear kidstuff all day long. I get to see kids pick their boogers. I get to see them eat it. I get to hear them cry about being cut in line. I get to see them waddle off to the office to get a clean pair of pants. It really is a very thrilling life.

So this week, in the middle of a guitar lesson, one of my kids stops in the middle of a song, looks up at me, and says, "Hey... if someone says - 'Are you ticklish?' - you know they are going to tickle you no matter what you say. You say yes - you get tickled. You say no - you get tickled. The only way you don't get tickled is if you say, 'NO! I HAVE DIARRHEA!'. Right?"

Pure Genius.