So, I'm not as brave as I used to be (or, alternately, not as stupid. Keep in mind, this is coming from someone who has broken two arms and one cast. Who, while lost, climbed a rock face to get a better feel of where she was and slipped and fell twenty feet. Who used to daily walk across a dead tree fallen over a creek bed because it was a quicker way home. Who decided that the best place to ride her bike on the highway near her house was in the turn lane. But all of that is history).

Regardless, I found the following experience to be terrifying.

I decided to climb a tree to take my pictures. Keep in mind that I had no partner, so all of these pictures are either taken with me holding the camera, or using a timer with the camera sitting on a branch.

There was a beautiful lake in my background, but I never managed to get it to show up in the pictures, despite my best attempts.



I shimmied, crawled, slipped, turned, and swayed, but it always alluded me.

So, here are some of the resulting pictures (ones that actually turned out). I'd just like you to know that, as much as I love nature, I'm not so much hugging the tree as holding on for dear life.













Finally, I decided to get down.



Or maybe just stay in the tree for awhile.

Frankly, I'm surprised I didn't kill myself.