Although I knew that the playful pastime of tree climbing was also a serious occupation, I had never watched a professional tree climber at work, until yesterday in our backyard. Sliding out on the thinnest of twigs at the greatest of heights, Barton, our climber, displayed the nimbleness of a sailor and the derring-do of a chainsaw juggler. Leaning horizontally, and swinging upside down Barton was giving our 60 year old Elm tree a very spectacular chop. I asked if he was a good climber as a child, ‘I used to climb, I’m not sure that I was any better then the other kids. It’s just practice’.
Like so many skills in life, ‘it’s just practice’. Though this did not lessen the spectacle of Barton’s intuitive climbing skills. He placed absolute trust in his ropes and swung between limbs, chainsaw humming from waist. Perching lightly, like a cat, he stretched to tend the fingernails of third-storey branches, pruning the magnificent tree carefully into shape. Good job. Some job. Don’t try it at home.
rs
bakersmith 