Rock Climbing and Old Ways

Added to the Tokyo Olympic Games(if there ever are any) a new competition will be sport climbing. Are you kidding? Twenty-two million people climb regularly. In fact, every single day maybe 1000 people try it for the first time.  A modern climbing gym opened in San Antonio a year ago which can accommodate "vertical, overhang, crack climbing, bouldering, top rope, lead rope settings." Who knew? It is the third location for a company who believes climbing is the hottest of the new sports. It is a way to do something that is old but new again.

Once at Wilson when we were doing a one act play for contest, I picked The Taming of the Shrew. It had a big cast which I always liked with some great ways that simple roles would stand out. Maybe you remember that time: Steph, Randy, David, Ricky, Sherri and others. David's mother went to all the upholstery shops she could find that would give her scraps, and she made some costumes that were killers at no cost for material. For an opening number I wanted something unique, so I asked sweet Tamera who had ballet and gymnastic experience to choreograph some pretty moves for about a minute that would go with some Medieval-sounding music. She did, and it was lovely. We made it through the zone contest and placed to go to district. When the performance was ready to begin, I was at the back ready to hear the music and see Tamera. The curtains opened, and she began the most beautiful dance moves...with no music. I'm sure my eyes were as big as saucers. What was going on? Where was the music? But Tamera's moves were so amazing that the judges later remarked that it was a simple but effective way to do something without adding technical sounds to it. Later I found out the sound equipment had jammed, and the student running the sound was in knots trying to get it to work. Something basic was all that was needed.

In 1889 Whit Rayner, a land developer and ranchman, laid off the county seat in Stonewall County with a town named Rayner. After twelve years of fighting with local leaders who wanted the site of Aspermont to be the county seat, he sold his interests and pinned his hopes on a new townsite in Lubbock County. Once again he got into a fight over his idea(Ray Town)and Frank Wheelock's settlement(North Town). Eventually, Whit lost out, and in an election, it was rumored that every cowboy, living or dead, voted for the new town of Lubbock. But one thing Whit had insisted on was kept: numbered streets would run east and west; lettered streets would run north and south. So if you live on a numbered street in Lubbock today, thank Whit for his simple idea.

Drones are coming, robots are advancing, but simple ideas can always be what we need if we are climbing or dancing or finding our way on a street.