the surprising thing is that i didn't die

Yesterday a bus fell over right before the turn off to get to our farm and the back up and traffic problems that it had caused were quite severe so instead of waiting in the boring que for heaven alone knows how many hours my father and i went for a drive around the local dam. due to a lot of recent rain it was full and funneling down its funnely with quite some force. I love water and I am particularly enamored by its strength and power. That passive looking dam could kill you without you in a matter of seconds - it is that Sylvia Plath Mushroom's idea: the calm, silent rebellion that is just waiting to burst.

On the other side of the dam wall is a set of stairs that lead down to the base and where the river starts.The moment I saw those stairs I had to climb them - my mind would not sit still until I have quested to the bottom and explored. This is both my muse and my vice - I must explore all nooks and crannies to see what there is to see. Despite the fact that there are about 200 stairs in between. I need a TARDIS.

Going down was really no trouble at all and soon I started to notice people had scraped graffiti into the stone stairs. I am a sucker for all graffiti even the "JO & MARY FOR EVA" ones. They always make me wonder if Jo & Mary even speak to each other any more or if I will find Jo's body tucked behind the chemical shed. The other graffiti I noticed was a handful of number on various steps: 60, 120, 200.

200 was one quite close to the end and by the end of the long line of stairs I looked up, admired my feat and went questing. Found some awesome things and hopefully there will be some drawings to post to tumblr soon. Soon I had quested to my heart's content and faced the next challenge: going back up.

*insert dramatic music here*

There I was at the base of some 200 stairs in my doc martins and jeans and I did not really want to leave the strange little spot I had found. I liked it down there and could easily have set up camp there but back up I had to go. About half way up I thought my lungs were going to fail me and my knees were telling me that this was possibly the second most idiotic thing I had ever done. Go me.

So, halfway up I stopped to rest and consider my fate if there were zombies behind me (the outlook was bleak) and snap a few pictures. I am still amazed at how the St. Josephs grow randomly in the wild and especially in between the rocks on this slope. Nature really kicks ass sometimes. Eventually I made it to the top and,, surprisingly, I did not die or need to be hospitalised.

Here is a little something I found while questing. Drawings will follow soon