Memphis, Training Wheels, and Climbing Knots
As a warning, this blog post is really out there.
Recently, I was given the privilege of traveling to Memphis, TN for work. What's in Memphis, you say? I'll tell you---lots of barbeque, rock and blues music, and Beale Street! I tried to order a few salads, those weren't really healthy. While in Memphis, do as they do---eat BBQ pork sandwiches, drink sweet iced tea (when they bring you that instead of your lemonade), and listen to blues music!
Every day I ran or walked around town. I saw...
- Beale Street (good food, good music)
- Westy's (A MUST!)
- the minor league baseball stadium
- the Lorraine Motel (where MLK, Jr. was shot)
- the Pyramid
- the horse-drawn carriages
- the Fire Museum
- the Orpheum (old opera house, still in use today)
- a classic car show on Beale Street one night
- statue of Elvis (and we did a quick drive by Graceland)
- Riverboat Rides on the Mighty Mississippi
- a few parks and memorials around downtown and along the waterfront
- Mud Island
We missed the BBQ festival by one week! Haha.
Now, the title of this post also includes training wheels and climbing knots. Yesterday, while walking around my neighborhood, I saw two kids with training wheels. One kid only had one, as he was being weened off them. It reminded me of when I got my training wheels off. I wasn't even in kindergarten. My dad had put my two older brothers' and my bikes in the back of the van and drove the family (at that time, only three or four kids and two parents) to the park. Along the way, I was asking Brian (my Irish twin) about what it felt like to ride without training wheels. He told me it was easy. I told my dad that I wanted mine off too, but he said I should try riding Brian's bike first. I remember falling.
A short while later, I remember seeing Daniel and Brian speed along the streets on their "big bikes" and I asked Dad to help me. He put me on Daniel's bike, told me he would hold the bottom of the seat, and I was to steer and pedal. Soon I was speeding along down the street, and I felt great. I turned to talk to Dad, to thank him, and I realized he was way behind me just standing and watching, smiling. I felt excited, a little scared, and full of joy! I was finally doing it! It probably took me riding Daniel's bike a few times to ask Dad to take off my training wheels, but learning how to ride a bike without training wheels was a big deal for me.
Well, I feel like I'm learning something new at work every day. I do a lot of stuff that I'm not familiar with, and sometimes I feel stupid or slow or behind everyone else. I remind myself to just keep learning, listening, and taking notes. Sometimes I get frustrated, though, especially if I don't have a lot of direction or if it's a simple task (to everyone else) that I'm struggling to complete. It's like my training wheels are always going to be there while everyone is speeding along on their clipless pedals!
I had been feeling like that last part (frustrated, stupid) at work lately. This work trip helped me change that! We did things I was more familiar with, and I loved the hands-on work! I'm learning how to rock climb (for the past year and a half), so I know two pretty good, strong knots--the figure-8 and the safety knot (I know, I should learn more). This came in useful when we had to tie up heavy objects to move them up/down in our workspace. Some people there didn't know how to tie these knots, so I felt useful!
Climbing has taught me how to trust a harness. I also trust my belay, friction, and all the laws of physics at work. I trust holding my body in certain positions, knowing that I can counterbalance a long reach with the proper footing. This helped during work, as we were working in body harnesses. I felt completely comfortable being almost upside-down while working or leaning over a edge to reach something. Heights are also something that has changed in my perspective. Being up 80 or 100 feet in the air isn't "high" to me anymore. I've gotten more comfortable with jumping off cliffs or high dives (thank you, college, rock climbing trips, and Tough Mudder) and knowing I won't get hurt if I jump into water or if I'm wearing a harness. I'm glad I didn't have to worry about this while working.
I'm still wearing my training wheels at work, learning more about people, the world, places, and science. Nothing is as black-and-white as it had once seemed. I've learned to swallow my pride and ask for help or tell someone I don't know something. I still feel silly stupid sometimes, but I think I'm getting better about persevering and trying to learn while being frustrated. Training wheels aren't bad; they still help me get to where I want to go.
Every day I ran or walked around town. I saw...
- Beale Street (good food, good music)
- Westy's (A MUST!)
- the minor league baseball stadium
- the Lorraine Motel (where MLK, Jr. was shot)
- the Pyramid
- the horse-drawn carriages
- the Fire Museum
- the Orpheum (old opera house, still in use today)
- a classic car show on Beale Street one night
- statue of Elvis (and we did a quick drive by Graceland)
- Riverboat Rides on the Mighty Mississippi
- a few parks and memorials around downtown and along the waterfront
- Mud Island
We missed the BBQ festival by one week! Haha.
Now, the title of this post also includes training wheels and climbing knots. Yesterday, while walking around my neighborhood, I saw two kids with training wheels. One kid only had one, as he was being weened off them. It reminded me of when I got my training wheels off. I wasn't even in kindergarten. My dad had put my two older brothers' and my bikes in the back of the van and drove the family (at that time, only three or four kids and two parents) to the park. Along the way, I was asking Brian (my Irish twin) about what it felt like to ride without training wheels. He told me it was easy. I told my dad that I wanted mine off too, but he said I should try riding Brian's bike first. I remember falling.
A short while later, I remember seeing Daniel and Brian speed along the streets on their "big bikes" and I asked Dad to help me. He put me on Daniel's bike, told me he would hold the bottom of the seat, and I was to steer and pedal. Soon I was speeding along down the street, and I felt great. I turned to talk to Dad, to thank him, and I realized he was way behind me just standing and watching, smiling. I felt excited, a little scared, and full of joy! I was finally doing it! It probably took me riding Daniel's bike a few times to ask Dad to take off my training wheels, but learning how to ride a bike without training wheels was a big deal for me.
Well, I feel like I'm learning something new at work every day. I do a lot of stuff that I'm not familiar with, and sometimes I feel stupid or slow or behind everyone else. I remind myself to just keep learning, listening, and taking notes. Sometimes I get frustrated, though, especially if I don't have a lot of direction or if it's a simple task (to everyone else) that I'm struggling to complete. It's like my training wheels are always going to be there while everyone is speeding along on their clipless pedals!
I had been feeling like that last part (frustrated, stupid) at work lately. This work trip helped me change that! We did things I was more familiar with, and I loved the hands-on work! I'm learning how to rock climb (for the past year and a half), so I know two pretty good, strong knots--the figure-8 and the safety knot (I know, I should learn more). This came in useful when we had to tie up heavy objects to move them up/down in our workspace. Some people there didn't know how to tie these knots, so I felt useful!
Climbing has taught me how to trust a harness. I also trust my belay, friction, and all the laws of physics at work. I trust holding my body in certain positions, knowing that I can counterbalance a long reach with the proper footing. This helped during work, as we were working in body harnesses. I felt completely comfortable being almost upside-down while working or leaning over a edge to reach something. Heights are also something that has changed in my perspective. Being up 80 or 100 feet in the air isn't "high" to me anymore. I've gotten more comfortable with jumping off cliffs or high dives (thank you, college, rock climbing trips, and Tough Mudder) and knowing I won't get hurt if I jump into water or if I'm wearing a harness. I'm glad I didn't have to worry about this while working.
I'm still wearing my training wheels at work, learning more about people, the world, places, and science. Nothing is as black-and-white as it had once seemed. I've learned to swallow my pride and ask for help or tell someone I don't know something. I still feel silly stupid sometimes, but I think I'm getting better about persevering and trying to learn while being frustrated. Training wheels aren't bad; they still help me get to where I want to go.
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