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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Topic Author's Original Post - Mar 20, 2019 - 08:26pm PT
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Continued summery weather here on BC’s Sunshine Coast had ex-Supertopian Bruce Kay and I out again with the full wall rack of scrubbing/cleaning/ascending/descending gear. Weapons of moss destruction, put to good use on a great cliff just half an hour from town. However, as the afternoon wore on, we began to hear the sound of beers, calling us by name. So, we packed it in and by 4 pm were headed back to town, aiming for the Townsite Brewpub.
But, as we pulled into town, Bruce said, “Damn. On a day this nice we should be looking for someplace with a deck.”
Well, yeah. As good as the beer is at Townsite, it’s a small place without windows, let alone a deck with a view of the ocean and the mountains across the strait.
The first two places we tried were closed, but Bruce remembered that a small hotel just a block from the brewpub had a deck. And this time we were in luck. Or so it seemed at first. The hotel was open, but its restaurant and bar were closed.
But wait! It looks like there are people on the deck. People with glasses in their hands.
So, out we went, to see four young folks sitting in the sunshine with, yes, drinks. 30-somethings. Three women and one man, all sort of pudgy and well-dressed. You know, fashionable-but-casual clothes, perfect hair and nails…
“Are they serving?” asks Bruce.
“No,” replied one of the pudgy women, “but we picked up some beer and wine at the liquor store across the street.”
We commented on how that was clever, and that we might just do the same, and then, after a slight pause, one of the women looked at Bruce and said, “Did you fall?”
I looked at him and he looked at me in total ¿¿¿WTF??? bewilderment.
Then I looked at him again. Old dude in grubby clothes. Hasn’t stood too near a razor in the last few days. Hair springing off in all directions. Sweat-stained shirt that might have been Hawaiian a couple of decades ago, and painter pants that were probably white at the beginning of the day but were now filthy with dried dirt and mud.
Ah. Right. Fall. As in: “Did you get drunk and faceplant in the mud?”
Once again, he looked at me and I looked at him.
How do you even begin to explain?
“Rockclimbing” was something these people might once have seen on TV. Probably with plastic rocks, muscular young bodies, and skimpy clothes. If we’d tried to tell them about old men fastening mechanical devices on ropes so that they could ascend rock faces without actually touching the rock, and then, using a different mechanical device, gradually come down the ropes, scraping mud out of cracks in the rockface with a hardware store’s worth of strange tools, all so that, in the future, people would be able to…
Forget it. They’d probably have called the police.
But, genius that he is, Bruce rose to the occasion…
“Oh,” he said, casually looking down at his filthy pants, “I was working.”
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Q- Ball
Mountain climber
but to scared to climb them anymore
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Mar 20, 2019 - 08:35pm PT
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Story of my life! Smile and chuckle.
Thanks for posting.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Mar 20, 2019 - 08:54pm PT
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Yer new friends sound friendly and outgoing for witness protection transplants!
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norm larson
climber
wilson, wyoming
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Mar 21, 2019 - 05:19am PT
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I find it hard to fit in most places too!
Most days its not even worth trying to explain.
Sounds like a great day.
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couchmaster
climber
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Mar 21, 2019 - 05:34am PT
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A picture with worth a thousand words they say.
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MikeL
Social climber
Southern Arizona
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Mar 21, 2019 - 07:14am PT
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Like that t-shirt.
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Tom Patterson
Trad climber
Seattle
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Mar 21, 2019 - 07:36am PT
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But David...the unanswered and lingering question is: did you get some cold beer, and find a nice place with a view to drink it?
(Great story...as always!)
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skywalker1
Trad climber
co
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Mar 21, 2019 - 08:55am PT
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Fine story Ghost!
I remember going out to Summersville lake WV to "deep water solo" or whatever they call it now. I stopped by a restaurant my buddy worked at to let him know our plans. No shoes no shirt no service. So I put on my climbing shoes, and my PFD and fishing hat and sauntered in. It was a mixed crowd and my buddy, a waiter saw me and just lost it and I was left as the center of attention.
I just said Summersville and he nodded and continued belly laughing. I looked around at all the customers and simply walked back out.
S.....
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Mar 21, 2019 - 09:15am PT
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Ghost and skywalker1, two good stories about the rubbing together of disparate lifestyles.
Refreshingly told, I might add.
ST is a mother lode of tales such as these;
the nuggets abound, revealed by such as Don Lauria, King of the Tale Spinners, at least in my opinion.
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Q- Ball
Mountain climber
but to scared to climb them anymore
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Mar 21, 2019 - 10:19am PT
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One tale I got... Had to be in a wedding and dressed up. Security guards thought I was trying to sneak into some country club. I tried to convince them I didn't want to be here either but, "I'm pretty sure this is the spot"
They grumbled, opened the gate. My mom said what's that white thing in the grass over there? I jumped out excited and picked up a roadkill albino raccoon. My mom wasn't convinced as t showed her the dentition in the mashed up thing to prove it wasn't a cat.
Security guards were going nuts as I asked where I could get a trash bag and ice. Then I looked up and saw lots of dressed up wedding folks horrified. Haha, a cousin remarked, "I guess Hugh is here".
The dreaded white coon, pelt turned out okay...
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Mar 21, 2019 - 10:24am PT
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Bullwinkle
Boulder climber
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Mar 21, 2019 - 10:41am PT
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No need to explain when you can, simply Judge. . .
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 21, 2019 - 10:46am PT
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But David...the unanswered and lingering question is: did you get some cold beer, and find a nice place with a view to drink it?
We gave up on commercial establishments at that point, and just went to my house. Bruce's place does have a great deck, overlooking the ocean and with a mountain view, but I had a fridge full of beer, and he was driving so had to drop me off anyway. No magnificent view, but it's a big lot with lots of trees, and we enjoyed cold beer and warm sunshine.
And that picture couchmaster posted is perfect. For whatever reason, I finished the day's cleaning looking quite presentable, while Bruce was filthy. But there have been plenty of days when cleaning climbs has left me looking like something out of a horror movie.
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