Monday, March 28, 2011

Rock Climbing and Thunder Storms

This weekend was a plethora of crappy weather across the Tennessee Valley, and I enjoyed every second of it.

Friday night was the beginning of a torrential downpour complete with the light show and booming thunder. It continued through the night right into our Saturday morning, which of course canceled opening day for softball, but allowed me to stay tucked in bed long into the morning...which I desperately needed. Laying there listening to the storm go on outside, I fell into a coma.

It rained that way all day long, bringing the girls and me into the living room for a cozy fire and all of our own reading time. I love how rarely our television is on. I love how much the girls don't seem to mind this fact. They tell me about their far away stories they are both engulfed in, and I smile.... content.  There is a lot to be said for content.

That night was very similar to Friday, again I slept deeply. When Sunday morning finally meandered into sight, the dark clouds seemed irrelevant. They girls and I went out for adventure. We drove to Chattanooga, Tennessee for our very first rock climbing experience. I was not sure how this was going to go for me, seeing how I am SO FRIGGIN SCARED OF HEIGHTS.... for lack of better words.

Hailey, she was fearless. She wanted to go first... and go she did. The kid scampered up the side of 50 foot rock like she'd done it a thousand times before. The rest of us stood there looking up at her in shock.

When it was my turn to climb I stood there wishing I had gone before Hailey...instead of having to go after... I gave it a shot. I am not going to sugar coat this. The mountain was cold...wet...cold...wet...and fairly EXTREMELY vertical in most spots. Once I began climbing I was even more impressed with Hailey. I did not get half as far as she was before my fear spread over me and my legs began to shake in a frenzy of cold and nerves. Having to lean back and trust the ropes to bring me back down required every ounce of trust in my being and even then I had to borrow some from a reserve that I didn't know I had.

I hit the ground with adrenaline pulsing through me like I had just hit the summit of Everest or been in a tank with sharks with a chum belt on. My body was hot, sweat was beading around my eyebrows, my hands trembling. That was intense. I am not sure I will ever get any better at it, but the rush was worth the fear. The chance was worth the trust issues that I have in my mind. Maybe eventually all of me, will start working together, and I'll be a badass. ;)

Faith, not as enthusiastic after seeing her sister be so successful managed to get up about 6 feet and then sheer panic spread over the child. She burst into tears... but when I asked her if she wanted down, her stubbornness pulled through and she said no. She hung there for a few more moments before she fell victim to the fear. Last night as I tucked her in bed, she told me she could have climbed higher if Daddy had been holding her rope... for some reason, I believed her.

The part I find amusing is how polar opposite my children are, yet they are a dead split of me. Hailey goes for it... all of it... she will succeed or die trying. Faith is still weak, and not ready for the climb. Oh the irony.

1 comment:

  1. More adventures like that will lend to fond memory banks for the girls, more adventures like that will erode the need for daddy holding the rope and more of mommy being at the end of the rope.

    ReplyDelete