Yesterday was a good day. I climbed yesterday. That’s what made it good. Other things contributed to my good day, too, but without climbing, it would’ve been a sub-par day, and probably a depressing one. I read “Black Dog” by Neil Gaiman in his book Trigger Warning, and that’s where the concept of the “black dog of despair” that “can only depress us” was articulated fully! I love the story for that! I now know where the idea came from for that Facebook video about the Black Dog that represents Depression! Though ideas get recycled and are articulated in different ways through time and in different cultures, this story by Neil Gaiman was fantastic! I read that yesterday afternoon after I finished climbing. I watched an excellent movie last night with my husband, too, directed by Guillermo Del Toro. It was called “The Shape of Water” (R), and was a great movie, by my standards. It dealt with a lot of issues that we, in our American history and as people around the world, have had some growing pains going through, and the acting and the setting (1950’s) were great! It’s a good movie in the way that “Cloud Atlas” is a a good movie, if that makes sense.
Climbing. What was so great about it yesterday? I felt relaxed just by doing it. Just by being at the climbing gym, I felt a lot less stressed about my life. There are many things causing stress in my life right now, and climbing seems to be the only cure for the constant madness that the stress brings into my mind to swirl about in dark thoughts and fits of anxiety about life. Yesterday was the first day of Spring, and I had the day to myself and at my disposal as much as I wanted it to be. I worked on my favorite V1 right now – “Green Cloverhang”, as I have named it – which is an overhanging route on the “Back 40” section of the main bouldering wall and has a four-leaf clover as a start hold. I may or may not end up sending it. I imagine I will if I commit to it fully, but for now it’s a great project for me. I got tired of the group of four younger (late teens) climbers who were sitting on the benches next to me babbling and making me feel self-conscious, so I went up to Boulderland to escape their presence and continue with my calm, peaceful experience at the climbing gym. I repeated my ascent and descent of “Green Arête” several times, and then sent “Yellow Dihedral” as two of the bosses and some important people of some kind came up the stairs to the mezzanine. The owners were both very friendly, as they always are, and I appreciated that. The four teenagers found their way up to where I was, so I migrated back down to the main floor and decided I had finished climbing for the day. It had been a good session, considering my recent recovery from prolonged illness and the weakness I felt. I contemplated riding the stationary bike and getting some cardio training in, but decided against it based on the fact that I just felt good. No need to push it yesterday. I felt good. It’s been a long time since I truly felt good, unburdened, and genuinely at peace with the world. I didn’t need any negative or stressful thoughts slipping in unnoticed while my mind was idle on the bike. I put my climbing shoes and chalk bag away, got my boots on, went to my locker in the bathroom and retrieved my valuables from my locker, collected my gear, and sat down on one of the padded benches in the center of the gym floor to record my progress in my Climbing, Training, and Tx journal, and also to log my climbs on MyClimb through my iPad Mini 4. Scott, one of the owners, came over and I asked if I was doing what I said I was going to do. I told him I’d lost three pounds. He gave me a high five and was very pleased. I thought about writing a blog post while I was there at the climbing gym, but opted to go for some lunch, which I ate very little of, instead. Heath, another of the owners, had told me atop the stairs of the mezzanine that it was good to see me climbing. I was obviously missed during my long absence, and it felt kind of nice to know that… It was a good few hours of climbing yesterday. The social interaction helped, too.
Today. What will today bring? Well, I plan on starting another book by Neil Gaiman, for one thing. I plan on climbing, for sure. I plan on finishing and publishing this blog post for you to read, which is still a few minutes off. I will probably work on the paperwork I need to send to a government agency that didn’t care to give me the full 30 days to return it (but that’s government agencies for you, hm?) very shortly. I should call the VA and see if I qualify for dental care if anyone over there at the VA would pick up the phone, which never happens, but I should call anyway. I may, even, if I feel calm enough after climbing, go over in person to the VA and physically stand there until someone helps me (which usually works because my presence makes them uncomfortable and I’m rather hard to dismiss if I don’t want to be dismissed). I would have to make sure I had time to return to the climbing gym to do some more climbing in order to calm down again after that ordeal if I decided on that course of action. I have to watch my nephew alone tonight while my husband goes out to dinner with some family of his. I think I’ll have him set up the playpen for that so that I can walk away without Squiggle Bug crawling off the bed when I have my back turned, if I should need to turn it for some reason. Our giant, stuffed, fluffy yellow duck should help keep him occupied while he watches his nursery rhymes show. He really loves that duck, as do I. That sounds like a day. I want to do more, but I don’t know how the day will go, so I’ll leave it at that for now and we’ll see if even that loose planning pans out. Plans so often fall through – at least mine do…
CLIMBING 4 THE REST OF US 