Monthly Archives: April 2021

Apr19

A weekend of adventure – A Friday in the city

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First Weekend of April – 02-Apr-2021 through 04-Apr-2021


It’s been a while since I’ve had a full adventure weekend. I’ve been kind of floating around between adventures this spring, not really sure what I want to be doing and feeling a bit aimless. I don’t know if it’s the longer days, the solitude, or what… but for better or worse, it’s been a real challenge motivating myself to do much else aside from go to work, go to the gym, and try to regenerate my energy at home by laying on the couch like a lazy bear.

This weekend, I planned it out. I set goals, timetables, and decided to move. To charge forward and to try and drive myself out of the funk that comes with the changing of the seasons!


Friday, 02-Apr-2021


This weekend, I had plans. But, plans don’t always have to start right at dawn, do they?

Sure, sometimes the plan involves an early start, and charging off into the wilderness. But, sometimes the plan is as simple as “sleep in until I feel good, and decide to get out of bed.”

Today was definitely one of those slow mornings. Gloriously, beautifully, excellently slow.


I got up exactly when I planned on getting out of bed… which is to say, I woke up without an alarm, and got going roughly when I felt like it. Which was actually fairly early for my history, maybe sometime around 9:30 or 10:00?

Meh, either way, I got going when I wanted to. I ate a nice breakfast, drank a nice cup of coffee on my balcony, and checked out the options for going rock climbing in the city.

With gyms opened again, I’ve been burning through my remaining punch passes for the gym that I used to have a membership at. I don’t know if I’ll keep going after they’re used up… but for now, it’s a cheap way to get my climbing muscles practiced.



So… yeah. I don’t really have much to say here. It was a nice day. I went rock climbing, then I went to a delicatessen for lunch, and then I came home and packed up for the next days adventures.

It was a nice day, you know? Calm and quiet, and I got done what I wanted to get done.

Apr16

A virtual Passover, 2021 edition

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Sunday, 28-Mar-2021

I can’t quite remember Passover from last year.

This blog reminds me that I took a bike ride, and that I found it to be gloriously relaxing and quiet – and that we supposedly did a zoom Seder the next day. I can’t quite remember it on my own though… I guess that’s part of why I keep this blog, right? To help me remember the details that I might have forgotten?

I don’t know how I should feel about not recalling Passover, though. The photos that I took do remind me a little bit of the ride, but only tangentally.

I miss seeing people in person, but that’s nothing unique to me – everyone’s feeling that way since COVID-19 locked us all down; I just find it more noticeable during the holidays.



Anyways, this year seemed fairly similar – a zoom Seder, with everyone calling in from wherever they may be at the time.

I took a few pictures, but to be frank none of them came out quite well – especially in comparison to how well the video Seder went. It was excellent – a bit chaotic, a bit confusing, and quite a bit different… but that’s how a family event should go, right? Everyone clamoring to catch up with everyone else, with the framework of the Seder itself helping us navigate the paths and plans of the event?

It was good – We all got to walk through the Seder together, catching up with everyone along the way. We read, we talked, we walked through the story, and then chatted as we ate the meal together.

It’s interesting to me, how much shorter events like this go when they’re virtual, though… Normally a Seder would last for a few hours, nearly being a half-day or a full day event. I mean, the Seder itself wouldn’t, but we’d spend quite a bit of time talking on the couches, relaxing during or after the meal, that sort of thing. This time, the entire zoom call lasted maybe two or three hours – definitely a long time to maintain focus, but shorter than it would have been had we been there in person.

I don’t think it’s a bad thing, or a good thing… just a thing. Something interesting to note – I wonder how next year’s Seder will go, if it is finally in person…



We talked, we ate, and then we signed off. It was a good day, and a nice window back into getting to see everyone in person again.

Apr14

Returning to the climb

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Friday, 19-Mar-2021


It’s strange, thinking about how long it’s been since my hands touched rock.

How many months have passed since I even climbed on plastic holds, since I’ve actually been rock climbing.

This sparks the question that came up while Sarah and I were still together – am I still a climber, if I don’t actually climb?


I don’t really have an answer for that, though it’s definitely an interesting philosophical question… can you define yourself based on your interest in an activity, even if you don’t participate? And if you do… should there be some sort of differentiation? Similar to the difference between someone who likes Football, and someone who plays regularly?

Meh.

This blog isn’t really intended to dive into that kind of philosophy. Instead, it dives into me being able to ignore the question for the time being, because I’m climbing again!!!

Planet Granite, the main gym I’ve generally gone to in Portland, opened its doors for punch-card holders again earlier this week!!! I can’t quite rationalize a membership anymore, since I live 30+ minutes away, but I do have a few punches left in my punchcard… and since I had Friday off…




It was amazing, going back into the gym. Strange, and a little evocative of… something… but still. Sort of like coming back home after a long vacation, or something.

The routes were pretty much the same as I remembered, though I could absolutely tell that it’d been ages since I’d climbed… and that I’d had that back injury to boot. I climbed lightly, focusing on form and volume of routes – not pushing myself just yet, and instead feeling out my muscles and the holds. Letting my body slowly remember how to move, and how to fire off those muscles that I hadn’t used in so long.

It felt good – just like all the other times I’ve come back from a long hiatus, either due to travel or injuries, I still felt at home on the routes. I felt like I knew what I was doing, and that my body understood how to flow through the poses and the struggle against gravity.

It felt like I was a rock climber, even though I hadn’t climbed in so long…



Maybe that’s the answer to the question I posed at the beginning. Maybe being a rock climber isn’t so much how often you climb… but how comfortable you feel while on the route?

It’s not a perfect answer. But it’ll do, for now.