Tuesday 12 August 2008

A MIDSUMMER DAY'S DREAM

I am a daydreamer, I've always been and I probably will always be.
Daydreaming is beautiful, perhaps even more than just dreaming, because when asleep we can't control our minds and our dreams, while if we daydream we can project ourselves into a world in which everything could happend, and accordingly to our plans and desires, too!!!
I'm teaching at the school, which is one of the best things I've always done in my life, and I really hope this could continue in a more constant way; I seriously think I want to do this as my job.
Then, my daydreams take me to chilly mountain valleys, or forests, or sea cliffs, scattered with boulders with hard lines and beautiful moves, that I obviously crush, not without a serious effort and battle.
From there, I find myself, once or twice every month, surrounded by calm waters, with distant bulges forming under the surface and creating glassy lines as they come closer to my red longboard. Then I'm on the nose, my back slightly bent backwards, my shoulders behind my hips, my arms vertically dangling, letting small drops of saltwater fall on the wax.
From the mist of the dawn session, to the mist of the chalk filled gym the step is already made. I am with friends, strong climbers who push me over my previous limits, they encourage me to do more and to put more effort into it. Among these friends, I can see Tom and Rich, setting long moves between bad crimps on the 45° wall, I can see Eric, pretending he's not strong and flashing one project of mine, I can see Andrea, completely recovered from 10 years of injuries and already better than he's ever been, I can see Keith, just pinching his way out of the 60° wall, his body horizontal, his feet pasted to terrible, slopey footholds. I watch them all, I envy them all because I can't be them and myself all at the same time, I secretly thank them all because my life is richer with them, I am happier. We all go for a beer.
At home, my girlfriend has had a great day at work, she's grabbing finally what she's been after for so many years, she can finally say "thankyou everybody, but now I'm on my own."
In between all these dreams I stand, and I am a better person, I don't disappoint my love, I understand her and I show it. I am proud of what I do and I'm not afraid to tell it to my parents, because they won't be disappointed with me.
Reality is another thing. I am a mediocre climber who trains on his own and I don't travel much. I don't know if I could make my living on teaching, I disappoint my girlfriend, I am selfish and I don't know how to speak to my parents because they are disappointed with me.

But hey, it could be worse. It could be raining.


3 comments:

Ghostface said...

'Mediocre' appeared in your post!?

Take that shit out right now. And come to Liverpool fast. You have an appointment with some problems.

Teaching can be so fucking rewarding can't it? Like drumming the concept of a 'flag' when climbing into a child's mind. Eventually they do it without you saying anything and it produces a good feeling within. (They're still too young to undersatnd the importance of face-on board climbing!).

Fiend said...

In England it IS raining :)

Do what you can....small steps...

Richie Crouch said...

Great post, I laughed at the end (then cried as it HAS been raining here for the past week!)

I was starting to miss jumping up a 45 board between crimps with the recent openhanded slopey pinch training, but nice new sets at my centre of steep crimp problems with long moves have brought be back to life! :)