Climbing the Tree

As I may have mentioned in the past, I am an avid Audio Book fan. I listen to books in my car whenever I am alone, which is at least every day on the way to work and back. I usually have a few books waiting in my library for me to get around to listening to them.

A couple of weeks ago I finished the book I was listening to ("The Diamond Age" by Neal Stephenson) and was faced with the challenge of what to listen to next... I was inspired to select "Paths of Glory" by Jeffrey Archer. This novel is based on the true story of George Mallory, who set off to be the first man to reach the summit of Everest back in 1924. His body was discovered in 1999, and nobody knows if he reached the top or not.

I completed listening to the book on Friday, and the next morning (Saturday) my dear wife reminded me that I had agreed to help her with cutting down one of the trees in the back yard. She described her olan, which included her climbing into the big pine next to the targeted tree and attaching a sturdy rope between the two. This was to be done at two locations so that when we cut it down it will not come crashing on the top of the house.

So what does a caring husband like myself do?... I called the missionaries... Upon their arrival, my wife and I explained the plan. At first they were skeptical (these young boys have obviously not seen my wife in action). However, when my wife made her stand at 25 feet off the ground and started throwing the rope onto the remote limb, one of them pulled out his camera and captured the attempts in video.

Once she was done with the first connection, they had to leave, and my wife needed to go to pick up the kids. I was left alone to my own devices. I chose to climb higher and secure the second connection. As I was climbing up, I recalled several points I had just read in the book about Mallory. This was great inspiration since it allowed me to slow down and think ahead. Once I reached approximately 40 feet, I braced myself and successfully caught the limb.

It was starting to get dark when I started to head down. The main thing that stuck in my head from the book was that the way down is always more difficult and treacherous than the way up. Despite the darkness, I took my time and carefully analyzed the best path down. I ended up successfully reaching my ladder and coming down with hardly a scratch.

Now all that is left to do is to cut that tree...

TOTD: The game of Life operates according to "sudden death" rules.

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