Some of you know that Climbing House isn’t just the name of this blog, it’s the old house many of us (contributors) lived in during college. I lived there for two years, and next door for one more. These were good times, but a house full of rowdy college rock climbers can lead to some weird happenings (especially in the flatlands of Nebraksa). Here, in brief, are a few of my more memorable moments from those times:
The Medium Line- We had a permanent slackline set up in the backyard, it was about 3 feet off the ground. One day we got the bright idea to set up a high line (a slackline high above the ground). The only problem was we didn’t have a good place for it, so we set up a “Medium Line” i.e. a slackline about 7 feet off the ground- Just enough to be dangerous. No serious injuries occurred.
Snowboarding off the Roof- Ah, yes. Why drive to Colorado when we can build a sick ramp and grind bar in our own backyard. We built the ramp up to about 3 feet below the roof of our deck. This took all of a cold afternoon. The goal was to jump off the roof, slide down the ramp, grind the 20′ pvc pipe, then not hit the tree . After drinking a bunch of courage, we tried it. I think we pulled it off once.
Water Balloons. We got a water balloon launcher in the heat of the summer. Heading out on the roof again (of course) we started shooting at targets indiscriminately. We pounded the side of a neighbors house (4 houses away) with a watermelon sized balloon. Never ones to leave well enough alone, we hit the house again. A minute later, wearing nothing but tight white underwear, a 6 foot, 200 lb. man charged out of the house carrying a fire axe. Our eyes lit up as we scrambled back through the window and peaked over the sill.
Pitbulls. In the alley behind our house, there was a constantly overflowing dumpster. Adjacent to said dumpster was a broken fence that attempted to hold two vicious pitbulls. The pitbulls always escaped to scrounge through the dumpster. We biked through the alley everyday hoping the dogs weren’t around. My roomy Joe was bit twice, and we called animal control at least 5 times.
One day Justin and I biked by and the dogs started at him. Since I was 50 yards ahead, a took a moment to watch the situation unfold, laughing a little. In my arrogance, the dogs noticed me, and came at me hard! I hopped off my bike, and fought them off with my bike frame. I think we started riding around the block to get home after that one.
…More to come….
E
Ohhh… I miss the climbing house! The hippie attic, the beer bong that wound down the stairs, the pull-up competitions… too much fun!
I enjoyed your stories Eli but I just have to put in my defense of pitbulls. Pits were bred for fighting and hunting so they have a strong prey drive and can be very aggressive if abused or poorly trained, but they can also be the sweetest, most lovable pups if given a little compassion and training. I would have rescued those poor dogs and given them some love, then shot water balloons at the negligent owners.
Oh, the pitbull nicknamed Satan that wasn’t slowed down by a steak filled with garlic cloves and 3/4 a bottle of fire sauce? He was a delight. How about the time Katy fell off the roof on to Andrews car, and one week later Andrew repaid by falling off the roof onto Katy’s bike. “He actually showed me” (Daily Nebraska , ‘When parties get out of control’ pg3). Those were the times.
What about the time we got all those tickets for having the underwear party!? Or the time Joe was so fed up with me hitting snooze on my alarm that he came into my room one morning and attemped to agressively beat me with a pillow?!?! Does anyone remember the 70′s drag party we had where only the 4 roomies (Eli, Joe, Junk and I) dressed up?
Ah, those were the good old days. Antique hardwood floors, nice backyard hammock, and a kitchen that smelled like dead squirrel on hot summer days. Hey, at least it looked better than the neighbors house.
sweeeet. water balloon launchers rock.