Over the holidays I went indoor bouldering for the first time. Yesterday I joined a group of friends and went hiking in the hills of the Palisades. On the hike Russell was telling us how the landscape had changed since he had been in High School. It was interesting. Part of the hike involved some bouldering, not on a man made wall, but a real set of rocks where there was also water present.
The difference in how it works is dramatic. Without bouldering shoes it’s different. I had on a good pair of hiking shoes, but once they got wet, they got slick. That made things a little challenging. There was also poison oak to contend with. Had to make sure to avoid it so that I didn’t end up with some sort of itching issue.
After all that was done, the group took time to go have dinner at a spot in Santa Monica. There were stories being tossed about. One involved a friend with a business that had to move into his business to save money from rent. The effort has paid off and things are going better for him now. Another had to do with views on wearing helmets. I think they have their place, but I still do not wear one skiing, unless I’m competing and it’s required. My thoughts on it are that with a helmet, I might attempt something beyond my ability without thinking about it. The counter argument is that not wearing a helmet puts others at risk. I’m not sure I see how that happens. But I accepted it.
It was a blast to get out into the world, hike and climb. I got some nice pictures and made some new friends in the process. That’s one thing that can’t be beat.
As a music blog it would be expected that I ought to write about the big music event from last night known as the Grammys. However, I only caught a moment of it. One of the things I caught was Taylor Swift and then the group of Smokey, Celine, Usher, and others singing Earth Song by Michael Jackson. I thought the Earth Song part was cool. I thought Butch Walker playing with Taylor was cool. Other than that, I pretty much missed it, though I wanted to be there.
Thinking about bouldering, and nature, and the earth song, I figure it’s a good time to pull out a song from my recorded past called Nature’s Time. It’s got a flowing guitar riff and a melody that is a bit meandering. I wanted to relate to the idea of wandering thru nature. Then change it up to show the contrast of man plowing around without regard. It’s pretty straight forward with the arrangement. Guitar, Vocals, and some percussion.
Enjoy it, and remember to get out into the wild yourself. Don’t forget to stop and look around once in a while. You might miss it.