Ice Climbing

It's been a entertaining three day weekend of sorts. In addition to a little old fashion barn dance action on Saturday I had to look forward to ice climbing. So I woke earlier and warmed up the car and picked up Nick Aretz to head out to Casket Quarry to hit up a little ice. While the weather man indicated it -5 degrees out on this morning, as we mounted the cliff edge, set up the climb, and rappelled down, I took no notice. However, the ice told me it was cold... it was very brittle ice, making placement with the axes slightly tricky. As the day went on it the ice warmed up and the sun started to shine. After 4 ascents up the ice we walked back to the car with arms feeling the remnants of burning fatigue. It was a great day and a killer weekend that instilled a little spark of fulfillment that keeps my fire burning and makes the oncoming school week bearable.

Shoe-less

The night was far past its youth and the halls of the medical school were barren and silent. The perfect time to make a phone call and fill that silence. As I talked on the phone, I could feel that my eyes were heavy and decided a soda would lessen the symptoms of my late night fatigue. Distracted as I was, I left the school without my shoes and walked the short distance to the pop machine in my socks. As I watched the doors close and lock behind me I felt my pockets knowing full well my keys were inside those doors.

It was now midnight, on a Sunday during the undergraduate winter break. In a futile effort I called University facilities and was informed I would need to call 911 to get a hold of the campus police to get the inside the building. I had no intention of abusing the emergency dispatch system in such a way, nor was I going to call any medical school folks to wake them with my embarrassment. There was only one option in my mind..... run to car, grab the spare keys to my car, and drive home shoe-less and without a jacket.

The shoes I fashioned from a garbage bag, paper towel and syrofoam plates

I surveyed my surroundings wandering the University hallways and found the tools I would need. I grabbed an unused garbage bag, some left over styrofoam plates , and yards of paper towel. From them I fashioned myself some shoes to keep the cold and wet from my feet. The plates made a good sole, the paper towel an insulator/ cushion, the plastic bag to bind them all together in a water proof wrapping.

In the 10 degree weather I ran to my car with the shoes I had fashioned and a T-shirt. I shivered and laughed at my ridiculousness all the way home. Though my feet stayed warm throughout my short journey, my pride was in need of some thawing. As an optimist I had only to chuckle and smile my own absent-minded misfortune...I had at least made a story to be remembered. There is always humor in the befuddlement's of daily life!