Barry vs. the Tree

Well, I didn't post anything on Saturday or Sunday because 1) it was the weekend and 2) I travelled to my hometown of Gatesville where internet is still a new and mysterious thing. After trying to connect to the Web on my parent's computer (Windows Me, Pentium III, AOL, 56K modem) I almost gave up after 10 minutes and still not being connected. Finally, I connected and went to a website, clicked a link and promptly got a blue screen of death.

As much as I talk about Gatesville I don't go there much. Since getting married 4 years ago the pace of life has really sped up and months pass before I realize I haven't seen my parents in a while. Let's face it, I started a new family. In the frontier days of America, some young man would marry a woman and they would travel west to the prairie or mountains or desert and that's the last they ever saw of their family. Marriage is still an adventure. Have you ever tried to pack up a vehicle with a ton of baby stuff and a few bags of your own for a one-night stay?

Not much had changed in Gatesville since I lived there 8 years ago, although the town is abuzz because there is a Super Wal-Mart now. I went to it to pick up a few items while I was there and it was really nice for a Wal-Mart.

My parents' home still looks the same--so many memories. I looked up at the tree in the front yard and remembered how much I loved to climb it. It's a pretty big tree--an ashleaf maple I think. I used to climb up the tree and just hang out and watch people walk by or occasionally see some truck go down the road. I was practically invisible because no one ever looks up. I spent many enjoyable hours in the tree but it wasn't always good to me.

One day I got a great idea. I took an old belt and climbed up as high as I could in the tree. When I could get no higher I strapped myself to the underside of a branch with the belt. Then I let go with my arms and legs. It worked! I hung there triumpantly and began to flail my arms and legs freely. It was exhilarating to hang high up and suspended in the air. Suddenly, the old belt broke at the worn-out notch. Slap slap slap slap slap... THUD! The slaps were branches hitting me in the back on the way down followed by a brief pause and then, "THUD", the ground.

I laid there for a long time looking up at the tree which had betrayed me. Or was it the belt? Or had it just been a stupid idea? I was in so much pain I couldn't even groan. 15 minutes passed by. Finally, I got up and hoped my kidneys were still intact. Luckily, the branches did sort of break my fall. All told my trip down was probably about 20-30 feet.

Believe it or not, I kind of miss adventures like this. Nowadays, the only way I could get hurt is by carpal tunnel syndrome or wrecking my car during my commute to work. This is not as exciting as falling out of a tree. However, I did mention earlier that marriage is an adventure and recently I added parenthood to that too. Perhaps, many more interesting stories will come about. The years will tell.