Old Furnace State Park, Killingly

I climbed this cliff--twice! (shakes head in major disbelief)

I was a little daredevil last weekend at a beginner rock climbing class at Old Furnace State Park.  Every single participant had climbed before, some in indoor climbing areas.  I had zero experience.  I tried to equate my numerous climbs up Tuckerman's Ravine to a class III climb, but nope, they disagreed.   Thus I went from a class II (scrambling) hike of Tuckermans to a class V scaling of this cliff, skipping all steps in between.  This is typical of something I would do.

This is Cliff, rappelling off the cliff.

During the first class, I thought I was going to learn how to tie knots and procedural things, but oh no.  Not only did I learn the ropes, I used them too.  First I rappelled to the bottom of the smallest cliff seen in the top photo.  Then I climbed up using the rope on the left.  I got about 25 percent of the way up and told one of the many instructors that I thought they could bring me down.  I said that at least three times, but he didn't cave in.  Instead he encouraged me and pointed out footholds.  I eventually made it to the top, but admittedly, I was scared.  On the second trip up they were shouting encouragement as I hoisted myself to higher ledges in a much quicker manner.  Let me tell you, there was a world of difference between their definition of "ledge" and mine.  The following day, I found out that rock climbing uses a lot of muscles that don't see action otherwise.  My muscles (or lack thereof) were quite sore.  Note:  This post has been filed under the label "asylum"--no reason :).

The rock at the top juts out so this climber is dangling in midair.

From past experience, I can't expect all my plans to go smoothly (understatement of the year).  Plan B has bombed, so I'm now working on Plan A along with a couple of other things.  This is the first time I'm writing about research that has not yet been published.

Dolly Garland, Founder & Journaling Ninja at Kaizen Journaling, asked me this question, "How has reading/literature contributed to reaching higher towards your individual potential?"  My answer as well as 42 others can be found at Kaizen Reading.

I'm all set for Sunday's Earth Day Festival in Hartford.  I love it when I come up with clever ideas.  The CT Science Center is nearby and they are reopening their rooftop garden this coming weekend, so I'm hoping that draws in some visitors.