Just haven't been blogging, recently! Ross has made his green Jaguar sedan into a genuine runnin' automobile! We're going to drive it down to Kansas in a week and a half. I am always in awe of his many many skills. What an accomplished dude.
Toad is a sweetie pie. Toadblerone. His newest name is "Bubbajum". Don't ask me why.
Shawn, Katie and I went to Taylors this past weekend and had a beautiful adventure; we rented a canoe and went downstream to the rarely-climbed cliffs at Franconia. Awesome to climb some unfamiliar rock, and we ran into four friends of Sue there which was an amazing coincidence since so few people climb there - and the group of us climbed on each other's ropes and chatted and had fun.
Two movies that everyone should see: "In Bruges" and "Hot Fuzz".
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 08, 2008
Wasp sting adventure!
On Friday as usual I biked to work with Rick, my boss. Good day for biking, pleasantly cool weather. For lunch we walked to the nearby strip mall, had some soup, visited the excellent running store TC Running at which Rick bought his next pair of running shoes. Then back to work, walking around the small lake behind the strip mall. As we strode along I suddenly felt an intense pain in my wrist and immediately knew what it was - wasp sting! I yelled and flailed my arms, transferring the wasp to my neck, and from there it bounced into Rick's hair. Neither of us actually saw the wasp but I know a sting when I feel one, and boy did it hurt. I wasn't having any immediate intense reaction but I was concerned about the possibility, so he ran back to work to get my epi-pen, and I walked. We met up in the parking lot - I was still OK, but within the next twenty minutes I started to get hives on my opposite wrist and on my back so thus began the search for benadryl. I had some in my bag, but it had been expired for over a year. I called Park Nicollet and spoke to a nurse who told me to get some new benadryl and take 50 mg right away. Rick and I checked around at work; no benadryl in the medicine cabinet and no one had any. People came by offering me claritin, benadryl ointment, etc... all of which would have no effect on a systemic reaction. Finally Bridget offered to go get some. She came back with benadryl "allergy and cold", which loaded up the benadryl with aspirin and nasal decongestant. I took some anyway. The hives gradually faded.
By the time we left work the hives were gone but my wrist and hand had started swelling; there was a significant red lump covering the back of my hand. The bike ride home went smoothly, though. Once home Ross and I settled in for a quiet evening of pasta and a movie. "In Bruges" - if you haven't seen it, DO! But despite the benadryl my swelling increased - much of my forearm and hand. I ran over to Byerly's before bed to get some "real" benadryl, regretting the decision to not go to urgent care right after work. Got through the night, went to urgent care in the morning. They gave me Prednisolone (steroids) and the doctor said that in the future I should go ahead and use the epi-pen... I'm still not completely clear on whether the benadryl or the epi-pen is the first line of defense. I have the vague impression that the pen is for genuine breathing difficulty, which I never had.
So. A weekend of swollen, painful hand, drugs, tiredness. I really need to avoid wasps! But this one really came out of nowhere. And I've had remarkable luck avoiding them at the cliffs this year, even when climbing near them. They seem to be more irritable at this time of year.
By the time we left work the hives were gone but my wrist and hand had started swelling; there was a significant red lump covering the back of my hand. The bike ride home went smoothly, though. Once home Ross and I settled in for a quiet evening of pasta and a movie. "In Bruges" - if you haven't seen it, DO! But despite the benadryl my swelling increased - much of my forearm and hand. I ran over to Byerly's before bed to get some "real" benadryl, regretting the decision to not go to urgent care right after work. Got through the night, went to urgent care in the morning. They gave me Prednisolone (steroids) and the doctor said that in the future I should go ahead and use the epi-pen... I'm still not completely clear on whether the benadryl or the epi-pen is the first line of defense. I have the vague impression that the pen is for genuine breathing difficulty, which I never had.
So. A weekend of swollen, painful hand, drugs, tiredness. I really need to avoid wasps! But this one really came out of nowhere. And I've had remarkable luck avoiding them at the cliffs this year, even when climbing near them. They seem to be more irritable at this time of year.
Monday, September 01, 2008
Women climb Red Wing
Yesterday Katie and I met Sandy at Red Wing. I had met Sandy last fall at Taylors Falls; she and her climbing partner Eugene had come up from Chicago to experience the basalt wonder of Interstate Park. Shawn and I got to chatting with them and Sandy and I had exchanged email addresses. I had been in contact with her sporadically, but recently we had been trying to engineer a climbing rendezvous.
Katie and I got there first because Sandy got a bit lost on the way from her campsite near Cannon Falls. We warmed up on Cinq Jours D'Afille (5.7), and when Sandy found us we got on Micro Balls (5.9+). I had climbed it once or twice before, and remembered well the awkwardness of certain parts. I was gratified to see that Sandy found it awkward, too. It has all the downsides of a Red Wing climb (polished, slippery holds, dirty ledges, tiny polished footholds, lack of friction) with none of the upsides. From that we moved to Annadonia (5.11b). Thanks to climbing it with Shawn the weekend before I remembered the difficult sequence at the beginning. I had one hang before the top crux, and then moved through the powerful crimps to grab the chains in triumph. We each ended up climbing it twice, because I wanted to try the alternate, easier finish and Katie and Sandy both wanted to work through the bottom crux.
Then we moved down to No Whippin Boys (5.10), possibly my favorite climb at Red Wing, and I led it with one hang. Not bad, but I know I can do it clean. I just have fears about gear blowing out and it makes me timid. Katie and Sandy toproped it. Then Katie and I both toproped Prairie Fire (5.10c), which shares anchors with No Whippin Boys, and Sandy boldly decided to lead it with the first bolt pre-clipped. She had carefully watched our sequence through the crux. It is, incidentally, a pretty intense climb; getting to the first bolt requires the use of a very polished foothold, and the landing is not good if you blow the sequence. Getting from the first bolt to the second is perhaps the real crux of the route; the key for me is a tiny foot pebble that allows me to move off two bad crimps. That allows me to throw my left foot into the large dish and stand up to grab the next two crimps - bad, but not as bad. Those allow me to work my feet up to the crimps that my hands had been on. Damn good climb. After Sandy led it I decided I had to, also. So I did. Major happiness. Katie and I both climbed No Whippin Boys a second time. Love it.
By then we were all tired and it was after 5 p.m. We wandered down to the sunny side so we could point out climbs to Sandy. Found some guys who were finishing up on Foreign Affairs (5.10d), and they put our rope up on it. So we got one last climb to complete the exhaustion! Hard climb. I want to lead it someday. Not yet. And not when I'm already tired.
Katie and I got there first because Sandy got a bit lost on the way from her campsite near Cannon Falls. We warmed up on Cinq Jours D'Afille (5.7), and when Sandy found us we got on Micro Balls (5.9+). I had climbed it once or twice before, and remembered well the awkwardness of certain parts. I was gratified to see that Sandy found it awkward, too. It has all the downsides of a Red Wing climb (polished, slippery holds, dirty ledges, tiny polished footholds, lack of friction) with none of the upsides. From that we moved to Annadonia (5.11b). Thanks to climbing it with Shawn the weekend before I remembered the difficult sequence at the beginning. I had one hang before the top crux, and then moved through the powerful crimps to grab the chains in triumph. We each ended up climbing it twice, because I wanted to try the alternate, easier finish and Katie and Sandy both wanted to work through the bottom crux.
Then we moved down to No Whippin Boys (5.10), possibly my favorite climb at Red Wing, and I led it with one hang. Not bad, but I know I can do it clean. I just have fears about gear blowing out and it makes me timid. Katie and Sandy toproped it. Then Katie and I both toproped Prairie Fire (5.10c), which shares anchors with No Whippin Boys, and Sandy boldly decided to lead it with the first bolt pre-clipped. She had carefully watched our sequence through the crux. It is, incidentally, a pretty intense climb; getting to the first bolt requires the use of a very polished foothold, and the landing is not good if you blow the sequence. Getting from the first bolt to the second is perhaps the real crux of the route; the key for me is a tiny foot pebble that allows me to move off two bad crimps. That allows me to throw my left foot into the large dish and stand up to grab the next two crimps - bad, but not as bad. Those allow me to work my feet up to the crimps that my hands had been on. Damn good climb. After Sandy led it I decided I had to, also. So I did. Major happiness. Katie and I both climbed No Whippin Boys a second time. Love it.
By then we were all tired and it was after 5 p.m. We wandered down to the sunny side so we could point out climbs to Sandy. Found some guys who were finishing up on Foreign Affairs (5.10d), and they put our rope up on it. So we got one last climb to complete the exhaustion! Hard climb. I want to lead it someday. Not yet. And not when I'm already tired.
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