Little Water Bear vs. Dancing Gummy Bear

Close up of a Water Bear

"Strange is this little animal, because of its exceptional and strange morphology and because it closely resembles a bear en miniature. That is the reason why I decided to call it little water bear."

J.A.E. Goeze (Pastor at St. Blasii, Quedlinburg, Germany), 1773

Photo by Eny Yusnizar

"The original dancing bear was taller and thinner than the chubby little bear of today, but became immediately popular among the children of Bonn."

Paul a. Schons, The Millionaire and His Candy 2003

Tree Spirits

As he dangled in the air, a small breeze gently rocked his tree boat against the oak limb beneath him. It too dangled from his saddle as he stared at the rope system in front of him and the webbing used to attach one end of the tree boat to the sturdy oak trunk. I rested and watched as fellow student Hallow put the knowledge we learned into use. Here we were in Oregon City, Oregon to learn advance tree climbing skills with Tim Kovar, New Tribe.

The tree climbing was done on a beautiful farm with green grassy hills and groves of Oak, Cedar, and Douglas-fir trees. Hallow drove down from Canada and I from the Seattle area. The first day I arrived we set up our tree boats and hung out in them. Later on that night we climbed up into our tree boats again and looked up at the bright stars as the frogs below talked amongst themselves. The tree climbs spread out in front of me like thick veins. They pulsed with energy and life all awhile being still and content with the passing moons.

Hanging out with the Licorice Ferns

This weekend a few friends and I went to a trail called Mt. Si in the Cascade mountains. We went about one mile up the trail then went off trail to find a tree to climb. The main canopy is made up of tall Douglas-fir trees with branches that start at least 90 feet in the sky. A more appropriate tree for climbing was a Big Leaf Maple. Once I found a good tree I set the rope up and the required knots for DRT. After giving a demonstration and setting each person up, they got to wiggle their way up to where the Licorice Ferns were dangling off the branches. I'm going to "go out on a limb here" and assume they had a pretty good time.


Tomorrow I will be driving down to Portland to learn more about tree climbing with Tim Kovar through Tree Climbing Northwest. http://www.newtribe.com/tcnt.htm
I will be there for four days and look forward to spending more time in the trees!