Challenge 48: Slacklining

This sport isn’t as lazy as it sounds. Think bendy tightrope. A 5cm wide, 2mm thick and 15 metre long material cable that you connect between two points (usually trees) and then attempt to walk on. It moves around a bit, in fact can get a real giddy up, unlike a traditional ‘tightrope’, hence the name. Maria ordered her Gibbon Slackline online after seeing some people doing it in a park. Some of the You Tube videos of people slacklining are absolutely amazing! What people can do on a skinny rope!  Madonna even had a slackliner on stage with her during her latest Superbowl halftime performance.

We first setup the slackline down at my brother in laws parents place at Bells Beach at Christmas. This is where we realised that it isn’t nearly as easy as it looks! Having said that though, after a shaky start, Maria was able to hula hoop on the slackline. Impressive. Each time we set it up our confidence grew. It was even a great way to make friends when camping. Kids love it!

The talented Maria

The key with the slackline is to focus on where you’re going (your goal, in this case the end of the rope) and not where your feet are. Don’t look down! Don’t worry about the swaying of the rope, just keep on moving.

What a great metaphor for life!  Focus on your goals, your dreams.  Keep moving toward them.  Don’t give any attention to all of the distractions and movement.  Don’t spend too much time dwelling on where you are now compared to where you want to be.  No matter how far away the goal seems, keep focused on it as you walk toward it.  Of course you will be distracted.  You will fall.  You will occasionally leap from the line high into the air with a mighty shout.  Sometimes it’s fun to jump off track for a while.   When you get back on though, keep your eye on the prize.  What’s the prize, and where are your eyes?

So, get to it you slackers!

Challenge 47: Light My Fire!

Forgive me readers for I have sinned.  It has been 4 months since my last blog post.  I was going to dump them all into one post, but decided to have mercy and post shorter individual versions instead.

So, here we go!

I did this challenge with Mark who inspired this 52 week challenge. His writing is awesome, check it out: http://thelifeofeye.wordpress.com/2011/11/08/week-49-31st-october-06th-november-light-a-fire-with-sticks/

Xanthorrhoeas: the Australian fire tree

Thanks Mark for this one. I found it fascinating that there were very few hard woods in Australia you could light fire with, as opposed to North America and Europe.  The Aboriginals of course figured it out, and the tree the aboriginals called the black boy (now commonly known as grass trees, or Xanthorrhoeas) is what they used. They rubbed together two pieces of the dried flower stalk to create fire.  They also used other parts of the plant such as the resin for glue, the tough seed pods for knives and even made a fermented drink from soaking the flower spikes.  So you could get drunk, make a weapon and make fire from the same tree…whoah!  Nature does have a sense of humour.

In addition to Mark’s account is that this for me was a real lesson in patience, and in not counting your cooked chickens! After Mark had successfully lit his first fire solo after a good amount of work (and experiments with the drill, the vice and with 2 of us working at it) I created an ember within about 20 minutes of trying. I was convinced it would light easily, and as a result blew on it a little hard, and the ember just blew away and vanished!

I don’t know how long it took me after that, maybe an hour of blister producing, exhausting work, before I created another ember. I treated this ember as though producing fire from it was the last chance for life on earth to continue. I nurtured it, caressed it, held it delicately, and graced it with the most gentle and encouraging of breezes from my baited breath. When it burst into flames I was so happy!

It showed me clearly just how much more we value the results of hard work above the things that come to us easily. I’ll also note I was ready to throw in the towel, and to live off Mark’s reflected glory, however he insisted I do it too.  Thanks mate, I’m sure glad I did.  Now I feel like a real man!

Working it!
Smokin'!C'mon baby...The ecstasy of FIRE!!!