Tree Climbing

Tree climbing is a sport? Well there is such a thing as recreational tree climbing complete with climbing instructors and lessons. And here I thought tree climbing was mostly for kids. I remember when we carved the letter A high on the trunk of a red cedar in our yard and instructed our granddaughter, Analyss that it was for her so she knew not to climb higher than that A. I remember cutting the lowest branches in an effort to make it harder to get up in that tree but that really had no effect, because a monkey’s grandkid’s gotta do what a grandkid’s gotta do. I do know however, that all of my grandkids get it honest because I recall a camping trip in Alabama once when I heard their parents (still kids at that time) calling to me and I couldn't find them until I looked up. They had shimmied up so high into the pine trees that I had to turn my back and not watch as they came back down. Lack of low branches didn’t stop them then either. Then there’s a special banyan tree, our family favorite, at Crescent Lake in St. Pete that has seen generations of our family amid its branches. It has been fenced in recently, but we still stop to admire, reminisce, and check out the baby ducks and geese nesting near it every time we visit.

Anyway, back to the sport of recreational tree climbing. It isn't competitive. I recently read about a tree climbing school, called Tree Climbing Planet, (no, not of the Apes-wait, we are primates, aren't we?) in Oregon and Tim Kovar is the tree climbing guru. He teaches climbers how to use saddles attached to ropes to hoist themselves aloft. He has traveled (and climbed trees in) 15 countries working on a variety of ecotourism projects and scientific expeditions. He also teaches climbers how to tie safety knots before they ascend. Possibly he perfected the knot tying he began practicing in kindergarten-I know from experience that this is where that begins, often along with love of tree climbing. He also teaches climbers that trees are more than just glorified jungle gyms. Sense an Earth Day theme here? But the thing that stood out for me, personally, in this is that in 1992 Tim Kovar helped a pair of 75 year old women climb up 25 feet in an oak tree and recapture a piece of their childhood.

There is that-old women climb trees! So next time you hear me calling and can’t see where my voice is coming from, don’t forget to look up!