New and Experienced Climbers over 50 #31

Happy Birthday, Lori!

What’s your wish? 

https://youtu.be/bxguidIvTcQ

Happy Birthday, Lori. Hope it’s a beautiful day!

Guy Keeseewrote:

Happy Birthday, Lori!

What’s your wish? 

Thank you so much everyone. My birthday is tomorrow, but today I was focused on having the last day of my 70th year memorable.  I have no idea what’s coming with number 71.  

But after three months of intentionally not climbing being back on rock was pretty incredible. I could only do a half mantel which is worse than NO mantel.  There’s no getting around that this is HARD.  

I guess my wish is for Grace in every way, for everyone. Grace in tackling this adventure of climbing and Grace when it’s time to step away.  

I found this amusing today – – I hit that point again, where I could not make the next move. I was done and I could not make ANY move. And I finally realized, oh! This must be what they mean when you work a muscle “to failure”, only in this case, it was all of them. I wasn’t sure I could even lower down.  Where else in the world do you work this hard? I could never force myself to do this in a gym.

Brownie Girl Dome

I think I heard Bob say that John Bachar regularly ate scrambled eggs with chorizo and tortillas for breakfast. (?). If this is so then it will be my new breakfast from now on so I can climb just like Bachar in my 71st year.   

Happy birthday Lori. keep on meandering through the desert but give yourself a Bday present and go climb something with holds like COR or Red Rocks ;) 

 Gabe, amazeing how you guys do hard stuff. I simply won't even try to pull really hard on anything that is not an FA. cant risk getting hurt at my age... 

Lorie. if you really want to get thrashed within an inch of your life get somone to bring you up Generic crack @ the Creek ;)  it's only 5.9

Happy Birthday!

Alan Rubinwrote:

Great job Gabe!!! Mushroom Planet next!!!! I was just up in Rumney for the first time in several years, but, being on that 'downward slope'', was happy to get up 5.8---but at least I could do that!!! What were once mellow now become fresh challenges!!!!

Those of us at or beyond 80 are riding the bell curve of achievement, replicating at the end of a life span our early days at the beginning.

I've had to change my motto from "keep on truckin' " to "keep on suckin'."

1. rgoldwrote:

I've had to change my motto from "keep on truckin' " to "keep on suckin'."

Perfect. I'll have to consider adopting your new motto too.

rgoldwrote:

Those of us at or beyond 80 are riding the bell curve of achievement, replicating at the end of a life span our early days at the beginning.

I've had to change my motto from "keep on truckin' " to "keep on suckin'."

The older we get the better we were.

rgoldwrote:

Those of us at or beyond 80 are riding the bell curve of achievement, replicating at the end of a life span our early days at the beginning.

I've had to change my motto from "keep on truckin' " to "keep on suckin'."

Older and better insured.

rgoldwrote:

Those of us at or beyond 80 are riding the bell curve of achievement, replicating at the end of a life span our early days at the beginning.

I've had to change my motto from "keep on truckin' " to "keep on suckin'."

You can joke about it, but i think your achievement to still be climbing over 80 is more of an accomplishment than any silly YDS grade I may or may not ever tick.  The people I know over 80 are... hmm, let's just say you're doing damn well. 

GO

Lori Milaswrote:

This is the last day of my 70th year and I hope to climb. Tony is trying to schedule two hip surgeries and he’s more excited about this than I’ve seen him so far. I think he is tired of sitting on the sidelines.  

So we were discussing possibilities and Tony threw out his line to me “when you get tired of Climbing, there’s always bowling.”    I told him if given the choice between pool and bowling I’d shoot pool any day. So we are discussing taking up hard drinking and smoking along with a little pool in the local pool hall.  During the brief time spans when I drank, tequila was always my favorite, but when shooting pool Jack Daniels ruled.   

The last time I drank anything was at the local Mexican restaurant where a margarita sounded really good. That was two years ago.

I was not happy the following day.  I guess I just lost the knack for it.

I suspect Carl would be good at this though.  

Goodness! I'm good at other things too you know! I'm quite partial to gin lately, just with tonic, ice, a slice of lemon or lime, cracked black pepper, sometimes mint leaves.  

My sister has just had a hip replacement and she's fine, was walking (with a walker) the very next day.  I was listening to an interview with a surgeon on the radio the other day and he was saying hip replacements are generally very successful, more so than knee replacements.  

Twenty three days 'till I go to The Blue Mountains.  

I told him if given the choice between pool and bowling I’d shoot pool any day. So we are discussing taking up hard drinking and smoking along with a little pool in the local pool hall.  During the brief time spans when I drank, tequila was always my favorite, but when shooting pool Jack Daniels ruled.  

My you've been away awhile, you will have to go outside to smoke for either pool or bowling, but you will still oddly enough have plenty of company. And also tequila in excess quantities will make you do things that will not be remembered as highpoints. Jus sayin.

Happy b-day btw

 

Now on the official day, happy birthday Lori!!!

Happy birthday Lori! Did I see you say 71? I'm ticking the same mark in about a week. I have a date to climb Devil's Tower, just a piece down the road from here, on the day after. 

I like Todd's idea of making a gift of a picture. Here's one I took in 2005, a full Barker Dam lake...

This is Lower Eaves at the Gunks. Rated 5.9 One of my climbing partners videoed me a couple of days ago

I'm posting it for my climbing buddies on this thread and for anyone who has heard about Gunks but never climbed here. The roof is typical Gunks-horizontal cracks, great friction, vertical or overhanging. It can be led but I always see people toproping it as I am doing here.

for those of you Jtree climbers, the approximate equivalent grade at Jtree would be .10b (or .10c for shorter climbers. I'm 6', ape index +5 so for me it feels like Gunks 5.8)

Happy birthday Lori. Here’s a poem for you.

Every Person Should

by Carl

Every person should love,

Every person should anger,

But only with reason,

Defending good.

Every person should consciously kill a thing,

Because we are all involved with killing, 

If only by eating bread.

Every person should witness a birth,

And a death,

And should dig in the earth to plant.

Every person should build a fire like they are building a great structure,

and should run, swim, skip, 

but not dance, 

for dancing is not for those who cannot dance, 

It is not for the poets.

Every person should have within them great good,

And deny an ability to do great evil.

Every person should paint,

A picture,

Of a river,

Using oil paints, a palette, an easel. 

Every person,

Should at some time or another,

Read poetry,

It should be English Romantic,

Or at least,

A philosophical allegory.  

Every person should enlist for war,

And every person for war should enlist not,

Every person should love all the animals, 

And with another,

Tie a marriage knot.

Wow.  You guys made this birthday special.  

Todd, thank you for the picture of Natomas. What a gorgeous shot! I used to paddleboard there and I’m sure you can imagine that I miss the beautiful lakes and rivers in our area.  It could only be a great love of desert that could lure me away from water.

Kris, that’s a beautiful shot of Barker Dam!  I always seen it with Water one time when I happen to be hiking past and it was everything I could do to strip down to my underwear and go for a swim. But I know it’s the watering hole for our big horn sheep, and I just wasn’t sure it would be healthy for them for me to be splashing around in their water. And I’d probably be arrested public nudity.

I hope you take pictures of devil’s tower. I know I’m a broken record, but I’m just so happy for you and Barb.

Carl, you’ve stuck with this group from the beginning and I know it can’t be easy. But what a beautiful poem!  I love it!  So you mentioned dance, and for the last few months, I have been captivated by this ethereal creature, Madame Woo.  I have even dreamt about her.  I have seen many ballet dancers, but never one like this.

 I am examining her plate because that meal looks so great and also wondering what is the custard-like slice?  I’ll bet I can find a recipe.  

She dances with the royal Swedish ballet.

All of this is wonderful inspiration.  

 A picture for Lori of a climb with holds. COR.