House Willis

Summer Rock Climbing Lessons

...another catch-up entry from this summer (I have a couple more to go yet).

While Fallon was taking her horse lessons this summer, Porter and I decided to do a month of rock climbing lessons. I picked a place in Seattle called Stone Gardens. They started the whole indoor rock-climbing scene back in the '70's. It's a very cool gym, with lots of colorful characters running the place (in addition to the patrons themselves).

The lessons were for a month and took place every Monday from five to seven o'clock in the evening. I'd leave work an hour or so early, drive to Prime Time Learning preschool and pick up Porter, then head for the Ballard neighborhood in Seattle where Stone Gardens is located.

The first two times I arrived at the school to pick Porter up he did not want to go with me. He just wasn't used to leaving Toni and Fallon at the school and wasn't quite sure what was going on. He was really upset those two times. But after that, he figured it out and realized that we were going to climb (and at at Taco Time afterwards), and really looked forward to our time together.

We had gone to Stone Gardens earlier that spring for a couple private lessons just to get familiar with the place. Porter really took to climbing quickly and seemed to have great instincts. His movements were really natural and smooth as he moved vertically and horizontally on the wall to find a good path. His second instructor prior to the official lessons beginning was named Lilly (coincidentally, also the name of the first horse Fallon road for her horse riding lessons). Porter really liked her.

We arrived for our first lesson about an hour early. So we went to a nearby botanical garden and the Ballard Locks to hang out. Porter really enjoyed watching the boats come in and the lock fill up. One of the lock attendants, during preparation for boat to enter the lock, gave Porter a high-five as he passed by on his way to secure some lines. Porter thought it was really cool that the man spoke to him.

When we arrived for our first lesson, he was already somewhat familiar with the gear and the environment. This helped since in the past he's been quite reserved around larger groups (much like me). However, this wasn't the case this time and he quickly scaled the wall and did all of the exercises that the instructors laid out for him - eagerly taking on each new challenge.

Despite this,however, the first few times we went he was still pretty quiet. On about the third lesson he let go a bit. During that lesson we had gone outside to climb the 65' external wall. He went all the way to the top without hesitating. My palms were sweating a bit as I watched him struggle a bit near the top, looking for the best hand hold, reaching for it a couple times, and then finally grabbing hold of it. I was very proud of him as he touched back down on the ground with a gigantic smile on his face. From his view at the top he was able to see part of Puget Sound and a good bit of Ballard.

Also during the third lesson he had the opportunity to do some "slack lining". With slack-lining they take a rope and stretch it a foot or so above the ground. Then the climbers practice walking back and forth on it. It increases balance and self-confidence. A couple older climbers in the class went first. Then the instructors asked him if he wanted a turn. Without hesitating, and to my surprise, he jumped right up and walked over. By that time a large crowd had gathered to watch the students.

A couple teenage girls from another class spotted him on either side as he slowly worked his way from one end to the other. Everyone clapped when he was finished and you could just see how proud he was of what he'd accomplished. It made me feel really good to see him be so outgoing.

On another day, we arrived quite early and decided to walk over to the Lock Spot Cafe for a bite to eat. It's a bit of a dive, but it has lots of character and the staff are generally friendly. We decided split a plate of the Greek fries and a couple Cokes. The fries were covered with oregano, olive oil and tons of feta. We both devoured as much as we could but still had a huge mound left over. We noticed a poster of The Deadliest Catch on the wall and asked our waiter about it. He told us that the last episode of the season had been filmed at the LockSpot. Pretty cool.

We put the remaining fries in a take out box and walked back over to the gym. Porter was ready for a good climb and you could tell how happy and relaxed he was, especially after the good meal we'd just eaten.

On the fourth lesson we went up stairs and did a little bouldering. When bouldering, the climber stays below about 10' and climbs without a harness. The entire floor area is padded, and there are low ceilings with hand and foot holds so that you can practice climbing upside down on horizontal surface. Porter tried this a couple times, but it simply took too much strength for him to be able to hold himself up for long - that and the instructors wore themselves out holding him up above their heads.

Later that same lesson we went outside and Porter got the chance to climb up to about 20' and let go, swinging really far out and back a few times. Then the instructor caught him, held him in place and spun him around. He went a little too fast and it scared Porter a bit. But it wasn't too big of a deal for him by that time. He was really feeling comfortable at this point.

Our last lesson arrived and I think we were both a bit sad for them to be completed. Porter and I had gotten a lot closer during the experience. I could also see Porter's confidence gaining tremendously as he learned and began to push his capabilities a bit each lesson. He also enjoyed working with the instructors (particulary the female instructors); and, just as much, we enjoyed the routine drive over to Ballard and passing time together before each lesson.

That reminds me...I can't forget about Taco Time. After every lesson Porter was especially excited (perhaps more so than for the rock climbing) to eat dinner at the Taco Time located just across the street from the gym. He'd ask execitedly when the lesson was finished "can we go to Taco Time now?" So, we'd turn our gear in, change shoes and then walk across the street to Taco Time. Our order would differ from time to time but we'd always get an order of "Mexican Fries" to share (or, as we called them when I was in elementary school, "Tater Tots"). Toni and I still laugh about how Taco Time would have the nerve to call them "Mexican Fries".

Regardless of the humor of it, Porter really loved the fries and gobbled them down with lots of hot sauce and salt (he's a fellow salt-aholic). In a way I found this particular Taco Time a bit depressing. It was always a bit empty, cold and way too quiet. The clientele was generally made up of local elderly people from a nearby retirement community and an occasional drifter. But somehow, with Porter's company and a hot meal after a good work out, the atmosphere fit, especially with our somewhat sparse conversation - usually about something we watched happening outside the resteraunt, or about what we thought Toni and Fallon were doing, about the lessons or, more frequently, just about the food we happened to be eating.

I printed out some large pictures of his experience at the gym for him and we put them up next to his bed and the dressing mirror in their bedroom. He was really proud to show Jonathan and Krystal his accomplishments (esp. climbing all the way to the top).

I also cleared some branches from a large Hemlock Fir in our front yard and then set up a 2x4 inclined from a lower branch to the ground so that he could practice walking up and down it, using a rope tied to a higher branch to help stabilize himself. One of the neighbor kids came over and made a snide comment about how dangerous it was to let Porter do this. I responded that Porter had been trained to do this kind of stuff and that it wasn't dangerous because he new what he was doing. You should have seen the look of pride on his face.