Mr W. and I have a
pipe dream and it is climbing
El Capitan.
Pipe dreams are interesting creatures because they may never happen. That's the whole point. The
dream part indicates the impossible. But the
pipe part of it is all about being on a path, a journey that could one day lead you there. This pipe dream was born from being a child of the 90s. [Like every kid] I too, dreamed of taking home a piece of that glowing,
radical rock. As a kid growing up in a family who, once saw a rock wall in a mall in the middle of Ohio, I truly thought that Guts was representation of truth in climbing. Then I moved to California and fell in love with the real thing. You can read a tiny recap of our climbing history in
this post.
Well, we are re entering the pipe simply by returning to the climbing gym. After moving in November, our gym bags haven't seen the light of day. We are incredibly far away from this
dream.
My hands are no longer covered in the dense, thick skin pads required to pinch, crimp and swing myself to become an extension of the wall. My forearms and shoulders, while still reminiscent of muscles, have lost most of the strength they used to carry. The flexibility to swing, stretch backwards and touch my toes to my ears has been replaced with stiff joints and an inability to get my heels flat in downward dog.
I am by definition. out. of.
climbing. shape. But there is a difference between today and yesterday. Today, I am lacing up my shoes, tying figure 8's and getting a new belay cert. I am making the effort to get back on the wall.
Will doing this lead to my pipe dream? Definitely not. But stringing days like today over the course of years just might.
And that's just fine with me. God may certainly have other plans for us; if that involves spending a crap ton of time training and immersing myself into climbing, so be it. I'm letting Him know I'm totally game.
Do do do do doooooo you have it?
-mrs dubs
No comments:
Post a Comment