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Continue reading about Esk's adventures on Earth here! https://coffeehousewriters.com/hollow-moon-part-2/

Today is Sunday. Yesterday was intense for me. I hiked over 11,000 steps yesterday, which is over twice what I walk on a good day. Today? Ouch. I hurt all over, even in places I didn’t know I had! Am I glad I did it, though? You bet! Now I’m at the climbing gym. I … Continue reading Sunday slack

Today is a very special day for me. Today is the fifth anniversary of my first climb ever. It all started in my doctor’s office when Mark Nicholson said, “We need to get you down to SteepWorld.” I, of course, asked what that was. “It’s an indoor climbing gym,” the Doc answered cheerfully. I told … Continue reading Five years to the day since I began climbing

I have been focusing on traversing since I began my return to climbing in the gym a few weeks ago. I’m slowly inching my way “up” again. I’m heavier than I was a year ago, and very weak comparatively speaking, so I don’t want to get injured right out of the chute, here. I’m taking … Continue reading Inching my way up again

Climbing is living in the present. You can’t do it any other way (without risking serious injury or death to yourself or someone else, that is). Mark Nicholson introduced me to climbing and I will never forget that. Nobody could ever have done me a bigger favor (except Jesus). Mark taught me to live in … Continue reading Living in the present

I met someone at the climbing gym today that I really connected with—Veteran, same initials as me, and a heck of a story that parallels my own life in many ways. I enjoyed visiting with him while we bouldered together on the upper wall this morning. It was fortuitous that I came to the climbing … Continue reading A new climbing buddy

Today is a reset day for me. My favorite bouldering wall is reset, my climbing is reset, and my life is being reset. The last is not the best possible scenario that I can think of, but change happens in life, and we must all face it somehow. I choose to climb in order to … Continue reading Reset

In getting back to climbing, I’ve been trying to climb in my La Sportiva Solution Comps and have had excruciating pain in my feet after every session. I decided to pull out my La Sportiva Katana Laces this morning to “start at the beginning”, so to speak. Even though they were just as difficult to … Continue reading Back to the Katana Laces

Chad. One of my climbing mentors. I turned around, hearing the familiar voice say, “Hey, Chris.” I gave Chad a big hug, overjoyed to see him after a year away from the climbing gym. He was the first person to show me how to traverse and warm up and train properly at the old gym … Continue reading Saw one of my climbing mentors!

My doctor convinced me that it was time to go back to climbing since I’m fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and have been depressed as all get out for the last year (since I haven’t been able to climb). So far, the Doc has called me every day to check on me and offer some motivation … Continue reading Climbed three days in a row now!