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I have the BD Venom and really like it; very lightweight but plenty of authority for both waterfall and boilerplate alpine ice. Plus the versatility for self arrest, even a boot-axe belay. An all around alpine tool, IMHO.

You need to size down your photos so we can see what you have without scrolling side to side and up and down on super macro-closeups of the gear.

The riskiest behavior I can think of is getting in your car to drive to the park; or perhaps stumbling onto a marijuana grow state or federal land. THOSE things are truly dangerous. These slimeball TV producers are really great at getting people to send them material for programs which they (the producers, anchors, hosts,etc.) will be paid hundreds of thousands, or millions for, while you get a pittance (if you're lucky) or zilch. The list of questions for actual rescue footage or risky behavior implies what they're REALLY looking for- (translation-"Was there blood and gore? Bodies? Screaming?",etc.)

Looks to me like maybe you sat there because you were smart. Though admittedly, I don't know what the temperature was like,perhaps that chandelier/lacework ice was pretty strong. Evidently strong enough for Ivan to get across; but still-- :: windpuffed angelfood cake ice.

My guess is that any form of assault or attempted assault on the president, even with a creampuff, would be taken very,very seriously. After all, they investigate every possibility of even threats to the president, let alone overt actions. I think the penalties would pretty severe, jailtime, fines, probably continued follow-up surveillance for years. A jelly donut, even a bouguet of flowers could conceal C-4 plastic explosive, ricin, anthrax, etc. From the standpoint of the Secret Service, those guys have to be continually alert, wary and suspicious of absolutely everything, no matter how harmless it might seem, while yet allowing people to shake the president's hand, etc. Tough job. I can see Bill's point about not allowing the public carte blanche to express their feelings in this manner, even though it's been a time-honored tradition all over the world. For one thing, people didn't use to have C-4, etc. But beyond that, even though Bush and Cheney violated our own Constitution, and caused untold suffering in Iraq AND to the families of our own troops right here, even though people such as Mugabe and others are truly heinous criminals, we nonetheless have to be the gold standard of the rule of law in civilized society. Otherwise we'd be dealing with a total guessing game, no idea of what would happen next. Thomas More,the Chancellor of England who was beheaded for refusing to approve the annullment of Henry the Eighth's marriage to Anne Boleyn, said from his cell in the Tower of London, under sentence of death, that, in spite of his own impending peril,"were it not for the law, there would be no place for an honest man to hide.". From what I've been told by friends who were there recently, you're no longer allowed to throw things at soapbox speakers holding forth in London's Hyde Park, where rotten fruit and vegetables have been hurled along with invective for centuries. I guess all that's left for vegefruitarian or copro-(shit-flinging)anarchists is the annual "Il Tomatina", the big tomato street fight in Valencia, Spain (also known as the "Human Gazpacho") or the similar War of the Oranges ("Battaglia degli Aranci") which takes place in Ivrea, Italy three days before Lent. I think there's also a spaghetti war somewhere in Italy, too. No meatballs allowed.

I think it would be an excellent thing to do; unfortunately, because it was former pres.Bush who was the target, then in legal and diplomatic terms, it is he who must personally request the pardon, in order for it to actually be implemented. And it's my sense that Bush won't ever do that. Not only is he still convinced that he did the right thing by invading Iraq, so that pardoning the shoe thrower might appear to be backing down somewhat from that position, but I also have my doubts that Bush is large enough, as a person, to extend the hand of pardon or forgiveness, or even to, in any way, show consideration or recognition of an opposing or critical point of view, of his policies or his presidency. After all, this is the former Texas governor who set a national record for state executions during his tenure, including two inmates who were legally determined to be so mentally deficient as to be unaware of the nature of their crimes. He campaigned for governor on a promise to "clean out death row" in Texas prisons, and he certainly made every effort to do so. He also granted the fewest pardons of any Texas governor. He was very,very hardline. Bush also set a record for the fewest pardons ever tendered by an outgoing president. As we all remember, this is the man who said "You're either for us, or against us." As a recovering alchoholic, Bush still exhibits the typical alchoholic behavior of a "dry drunk", characterized by "black and white" either-or thinking, petulance, and sometimes extreme stubbornness and obstinacy, which he of course preferred to characterize as "staying the course", in the face of any and all indications or advice to the contrary. Though Bush isn't now and never was a cowboy (he wouldn't make a pimple on a REAL cowboy's ass) he likes to affect that persona with folksy speech and John Wayne-style bravado (actually, there's someone else whose ass Bush wouldn't make a pimple on- Wayne was, in spite of his conservative views, a very decent man, as are many conservatives, and very ready to poke fun at himself and his image-very unlike Bush) such as when he said "Bring 'em on!" while of course hiding behind the entire US Military and Secret Service protection, utterly unmindful of the grave danger he had brought upon our troops, while satisfying his own immature impulse to threaten, goad, and taunt the enemy. Like a little kid with all the marbles and a rich daddy, he didn't think at all of others who might be hurt by his actions, not even on his radar. He exhibited similar behavior after Hurricane Katrina, with "Heckuva-job Brownie", dawdling for over a week before actually actually showing up on the scene himself, and then, while strolling along the beach in Mississippi with Trent Lott and Dick Cheney, with destruction all around him, was caught on camera and audio saying what a shame it was that Lott's home had been destroyed, but not to worry, because "We're gonna build you a bigger and better house than what you had,", completely ignoring the dire immediate need of hundreds of thousands right there. So no, unfortunately, though it could be a very helpful act to not just US relations with Iraq, but throughout the entire Middle East, I don't think we're going to see that anytime soon. The only way I can even think of even approaching it, might be if former President Carter was to go to talk to Bush on the shoe thrower's behalf, and to put it in light of such an action actually being in behalf of all us, on all sides, as a gesture which might do a very great deal indeed to open the door of forgiveness and peace, just a crack, to a world and the people of all countries and beliefs, who are thoroughly, utterly, completely devastated and weary of war, all war, any war, anywhere, for whatever reason.

Here's some old school stuff that might be really fun to build: www.inquiry.net/outdoor/winter/gear/sleds

"You know that the world is off tilt, when the best rapper is a white guy, the best golfer is a black guy, the tallest basketball player is Chinese, and Germany doesn't want to go to war." -Charles Barkley

It would be interesting to see a plot of how many of these were first ascents by Fred Beckey.

Two words: "Mission Accomplished".

Hi, Bigtree, thanks for your corrrections; you are absolutely right. I was reading last night about Hermann Buhl and Lionel Terray and was just logging on this morning to correct my entries, but see you beat me to it. Yeah, I think I was thinking of Louis Lachenal, I remember now hearing about it years ago on the news. Regarding Buhl, one of the saddest things about his death was that it occurred within just a few weeks after the first ascent of Broad peak with Kurt Diemberger and two others, and only three years after his epic solo first ascent of the Rakhiot route on Nanaga Parbat. He was really at the height of his career, just 32 years old. My source on Buhl was his autobiography "Nanga Parbat Pilgrimage: The Lonely challenge" pub. by The Mountaineers. And since this thread is on the topic of someone new to climbing wanting to get started, I think this would be an excellent read, not so much for technical or nuts and bolts instruction, but as an inspirational and instructive perspective on finding the right balance between youthful fiery enthusiasm and coolheaded, clear-eyed judgement and prudence. To get there, you have to have experience,but, as Buhl and countless others have found out, you have to survive the experience, and it's really interesting following Buhl's progression to that level.

Chuck Norris doesn't buy hurricane insurance; hurricanes buy Chuck Norris insurance.

Actually Lionel Terray died on the approach to a climb in the alps; he was crossing a patch of slick wet rock and gently sloping grass on an exposed trail, slipped and took a bad bounce off the pack he was carrying, and rolled about 6 feet before going over the edge of a 900 foot drop. The weather at the time was perfect,and everyone was in high spirits. Merely a momentary lapse of caution. Another famous hardman, Hermann Buhl, died skiing into a crevasse on, I believe, the Midi Plan glacier on Mt. Blanc. This was also in good weather, and moderate skiing. Locally, a well-known Smith Rock climber,very skilled and experienced, who did a number of first ascents at Smith, died when he tripped coming down the Misery Ridge trail and fell down Red Wall. Many of the worst accidents occur on relatively easy ground and often on the descent, and it's not far from the truth to say that an experienced, seasoned extreme climber on an extreme route, is actually safer than a novice on an easy route. Read Heidi Pesterfield's book,"Traditional Lead Climbing:Surviving the Learning years", and keep in mind as you go, the admonition of Edward Whymper, leader of the first team to summit the Matterhorn: "There have been joys too great to be described in words, and ... griefs upon which I have dared not dwell; and with these in mind I say, climb if you will. But remember that courage and strength are naught without prudence, and a momentary negligence may destroy the happiness of a lifetime. Do nothing in haste; look well to each step; and from the beginning, think what may be the end." Never take a single thing for granted, remember that the climb is never over till you're back home. Once we get back to the car, we always say,"Now for the most dangerous part of the climb--driving home." There's also the story of the Chinese tree-climbing master: many centuries ago in ancient China, a young man heard of a legendary tree-climbing master who lived in the far northern mountains. After great difficulty he tracked the old master down, and asked him for instruction. The master said nothing, but motioned him to follow. They climbed further up into the mountains, where they finally arrived at a secret grove of giant pines over 300 feet tall, towering through the windblown mists. At the base of the tallest one, the master silently motioned the young man to begin climbing. As he ascended, he looked down from time to time to ask the teacher if he was doing it right, but each time, the old man said not a word, but simply waved him on to keep going higher. Finally he made it to the top, and the old man broke his silence; "Stay as long as you like, and when ready, come down." After admiring the view for a long breather, the young man started down, and once again paused at times to ask the teacher if he was doing OK, but again the master was silent, merely motioning him to continue down. The young man was puzzled, but kept climbing down, until finally he was only ten feet off the ground, when suddenly the old master raised his hand, with a horrific scowl of rage on his face, and roared "BEEEE CAREFUL!!!!" at the top of his lungs. Reaching the ground safely, the young man collapsed in laughter, and the old master was enjoying himself hugely as well. The young man stayed on and studied with the old master for a number of years, and went on to become a very great and powerful master of deep knowledge and wisdom about many things, as well as the climbing of trees, and a worthy successor to his teacher.

The newest tie-in knot, the Yosemite Bowline, can be found at Climbing magazine's website. There may be some who know it,but it seems most are still using the follow-through figure 8.

Have to admit I've never tried it on skins before, just used it many times on both natural and synthetic fabrics, including upholstery,climbing parkas, ski pants,gaiters, etc. with no adverse effects to the fabric or any interior waterproof/breathable coatings. Mainly I've used it to remove really heavy,sticky wax like klister.Other waxes I've sometimes just left on or even rubbed right into the fabric, since,after all, it is just a climbing parka, etc., it's going to get dirty anyway, and a little wax is just more waterproofing. Not really an option with skins. Since it's just water, there's no problem with solvents potentially degrading nylon based fabrics, or staining. The method is predicated on holding the fabric (or skin in this case), at a steep enough angle to let the water run off very quickly so that the melted wax is carried off the surface. I use a teapot with a narrow pour spout to get just a small area at a time.I do think if you laid the skin down flat and poured boiling water on it, that yes, you'd probably take off a good bit, or most of the adhesive. As far as scraping is concerned, I usually only do that first to get the worst of it off, then use the boiling water.

Once you've scraped as much of the wax off as you can, simply pour boiling water over the area where the wax is, holding the skin at an angle(maybe lay it on a board and tip the skin to one side, not lengthwise) so that the hot water can carry the wax off, and you don't just simply spread the wax further down along the length of the skin. It'll probably take several pours before you get it all off. The idea is not to pour the water on while the skin is laying flat, but angled so the water just melts and carries off the wax on the surface, and not further into the fabric of the skin. Also, immediately after pouring the boiling water on, you might try scraping, it should come off pretty easily while it's still soft. Now, this will probably also take off at least some of the adhesive, so as Tokogirl says you'll have some spot reglueing to do, but by this far along in the season that's usually a good idea anyway. I've used this method to remove wax from clothing, gloves, etc. and it hasn't, in my experience, caused any harm to the fabric.

You're absolutely right, it doesn't really matter where you're from if you have the desire to climb and a way to get to the mountains, the time to pursue and work on it. But, suspicions of larceny aside, you'd sure want to be careful about anyone who'd advertise for guiding on craigslist. Nor would I ever climb on anyone's rental ropes or harnesses. I never even take my own gear for granted, always checking and inspecting, before ,after, and during the climb. There's just too much at stake. So, the original theme of this thread is a good one, I think, "This Is How People Get Hurt Or Dead". Climb Safe, and--- Watch yer topknot.

I clicked on this thread thinking it was about Buildering, climbing ON architecture; there used to be a little clandestine guidebook to the buildings on the UW campus in the late 60's and 70's. I particularly remember the NW buttress of the Suzallo Library. We also did routes on buildings at PLU and UPS in Tacoma, and the pylons under the freeway at the south end of the Roosevelt Way bridge in the U district were not too bad for aid practice. Buildering can be pretty challenging sometimes, mainly because you get a layback, jamcrack or finger crack that's dead vertical, and the same width, surface texture, etc. for the entire height of the structure, sometimes very isolated as a feature with little else around it for supplementary holds, or hard to protect. So, "strenuous and sustained" as one of the route descriptions stated... Usually though pro was pretty simple; we didn't have cams or chocks, but you could often just use slings on modern architectural features like vertical aluminum square tube attached to the building with standoffs (9-story Tinglestad Hall at PLU), or a lot of cracks in masonry would take standard angles or aluminum bongs, same size all the way up, so we might have to pool our gear to get enough stuff to make it all the way. I suppose nowdays with increased security this would be hard to pull off, you'd probably be charged with suspected sabotage or terrorism, instead of just trespassing. Even back then we always had to do it in the middle of the night and be damned quiet about it, driving pins with a muffled hammer (a small chunk of tire tread duct-taped on) and other such secrets of the trade.

This is also how people get arrested. Area code 314 (on his phone #) is the area around St. Louis, Missouri. So when he says he located in the NW maybe he means in NW St Louis? Yeah, wow, lots of glaciated peaks around there to climb. Must be really experienced as a guide-- for catfish, coons and crawdads. Or else he's out here, short of cash and trying to make a buck off some stolen climbing gear. Sometimes a good way to recover stolen stuff is to respond to ads like this and take 'em up on it, string 'em along. Both Craigslist and Ebay have had numerous incidents like this where people have seen their own stolen goods advertised, initiated contact to get an adress or other type of location fix, working with the police. Crooks are SO smart.

Dan, many thanks,that's the best treatise I've ever seen on the use of pitons.

Royal Robbins' two little books "Basic Rockcraft" and "Advanced Rockcraft", each have a short treatise on "pitoncraft", which are useful, as does even the most recent edition of "Mountaineering:Freedom of the Hills". Their section on pitoncraft is really very thorough. Regarding the use of sound to judge the "soundness" of a placement, the pin driven into a good, solid placement will ring kind of like a tuning fork(not that sustained), with a "ding" or "ping",at a higher pitch with each successive blow of the hammer, until it rings at a consistent pitch, or is driven to, or close to, the limit of the eye. Conversely, a poor, insecure placement, will render only a dull, toneless, "thock" or "whock" or "clack", no ringing at all. An ideal placement will take only a few strikes to get to that high-pitched ringing point, will provide bomber holding strength, yet will be relatively easy too remove by first striking the pin as far as it will go one way, then hammering it back the other way till it's easily pulled out with the fingers. Notice that I said "ideal"; that's not usually what you're gonna get, but that's the standard to go by in judging your placements, both for strength AND ease of removal, which = safety + speed. Be careful not to "overdrive" pitons, especially in bottoming cracks. Chrome moly steel is amazingly tough, but it is possible to curl the ends over by bashing them into cracks too shallow for the length of the pin,and driving a pin all the way to the eye when it's already perfectly good enough 1/4" shy of that, can simply make for a lot of unnecessary work trying to get the pin out, and also winds up trashing the rock surrounding the crack. This is how some of the most famous aid lines and free cracks in Yosemite became nothing more than a vertical row of huge, ugly pin scars which any dumbnuts monkey with fists could climb.This is where using a little common sense about pin selection for length and thickness comes in handy. More on that later. For stubborn pins,the current version of the Chouinard Yosemite Hammer features a carabiner hole in the blunt pick, to which you can clip a sling or swaged cable leash about 24' to 30" long, with the other end clipped into the pin. You then simply hammer outward into thin air, directly away from the pin, using your strength and the weight of the hammer to jerk the pin right out of the crack. Be sure to loosen up the pin as best you can before you do this; be sure that you're in a good, secure stance so as not hurl yourself off into space; and be careful to keep your head out of the way so you don't get a "Diamond C" branded on the back of your skull or across the side of your nose, or wind up with a new earring. Finally, except for the smallest angles, thin Lost Arrows, maybe a Lost Arrow spoon,(but a short knifeblade or Bugaboo is just about the same thing),rurps(Realized Ultimate Reality Piton), knifeblades and Bugaboos, pitons really have been completely superceded by the vast variety and range of cams, chocks, hexes,nuts,tubes, tricams, wires and small wires, stoppers, hooks and wedges out there. I can't think that anyone truly has a need anymore for a standard 3/4" or 1" angle on up, bongs, etc., or for any of the thicker or "Long Dong" Lost Arrows, at least for warm weather climbing. (For winter or early mixed alpine with verglas in the cracks, pins, especially angles, come in for lots of use. Cams and other passive pro don't hold too well on ice.) Besides, that shit is HEAVY. The only thing I will say is that there are times when I'd far rather rap off of a well placed knifeblade or Bugaboo, than I would from something like one or two small wires.It would all depend on the placement, whether vertical or horizontal to the direction of fall, the quality of the rock, etc. Nonetheless, pins ARE wedge-shaped, and they CAN pull out, whereas the great leap in thought of TURNING THAT WEDGE AROUND is what ushered in the whole new era of advanced "clean" protection in climbing. But no one has come up with a wire that can fit into a knifeblade crack and provide good pro, just yet. I wouldn't head up any little-known wilderness big wall without a good selection of knifeblades and Bugaboos.

Back in the 70's MAD Magazine did a hilarious satire on Eddie Bauer, centering around what they (MAD) called the parka and sleeping bag filling of "goose liver down". Featured was a "goose liver down" stuffed parka 10" thick, with about 327 pockets, pockets on top of pockets,and a 100 lb. goose liver down-stuffed sleeping bag (Keeping you toasty down to 714 below zero!!). There was also a goose liver down-stuffed canoe (with 144 pockets, of course),an arctic goose liver down-stuffed compass, and a goose liver down-stuffed butt-warmer for going to the latrine(with special searchlight for midnite latrine runs), all with multiple pockets, drawstrings, and made of "ballistic-grade bulletproof,airtight, watertight,radiation-proof and fireproof camoflage nylon." All of this crap was so heavy that by the time the enthusiastic outdoorsman had lugged it home, he was too exhausted to go anywhere and spent the weekend at home on the couch with a beer watching football on TV.

Sorry, I have to disagree; first of all, while there is nothing wrong with geeks, or being one, not all climbers are geeks.Obsessive? Maybe, but that may be the price of safety and survival, too. But there is a very definite criteria of style throughout the various aspects of climbing, and it's of very long standing, going back to the earliest days of alpinism. Some of the old pictures of Swiss and Bavarian guides in the Aiguilles, wearing rope-soled shoes and felt hats, climbing with absolutely beautiful, classic form and elegant grace on routes that were extremely bold and serious,extreme exposure, runouts of 70 or 80 feet with hemp ropes tied around the waist, ice ax carried through the pack straps, are prime examples. Look at the books by the famous French alpinist and guide Gaston Rebuffat,"On Snow and Rock", "Between Heaven and Earth, read "Gervasutti's Climbs", flip through back issues of the American Alpine Journal, look at photos of the legendary early big wall pioneers of yosemite such as Royal Robbins, Chuck Pratt,Yvon Choiunard, Bridwell, I could go on and on, if you want to see real style, elegance and grace under extreme conditions and pressure.If you're lucky enough to ever get to watch Tim Olson, the author of Portland Rock Climbs, at work on rock or ice, you'll be treated to a virtual clinic in beautiful,elegant climbing of perfect balance and unmistakeable and highly individual style. Videos of Lynn Hill, Alex Lowe, John Bachar, Hans Florine,Peter Croft and Ron Kauk offer more of the same. There's a great old photo in Rebuffat's book "On Snow and Rock",of him standing with a group of famous guides and climbers in front of a stone hut in the alps, people such as Herman Buhl, Ricardo Cassin, etc. If that's not a stylish crew with their beautiful ski sweaters, knickers, knee socks, berets and meerschaum pipes, I don't know what is. These guys were lionized in European society and the international climbing community, and they looked the part, as well as being able to really climb like lions. Style is everywhere in climbing, in everything, from the manner of the actual climbing itself, to the evolution of the placement of protection, not to mention a huge clothing and equipment industry which is still motivated by a very healthy amount of "form follows function", and a constant effort to meld the greatest versatility and function with fashion. Style is also a major part of the whole approach to way climbs are planned and carried out, such as the evolution of Alaskan and Himalayan climbing from siege climbing by large expeditions to small teams going light and fast, or the freeing of routes that were formerly aid, or onsighting. Pick up a Lost Arrow or a Camalot and think about the combination of engineering and design, art and science, that it took to create something so beautifully and perfectly functional, rugged, and that enables us to, for a short time, rise above the pavement, the rat race and urban sprawl,and as the famous French alpinist Lionel Terray said, "to really become men", to do something magical and extraordinary. I'd go so far as to say that to climb IS style,of a very high order, because, however, inelegantly or awkwardly it might be done, it is nonetheless an effort to do something beyond the daily grind, that gives up us a glimpse of the nobility and grandeur, the majesty of the mountains themselves, that brings us closer to finding those same elements within ourselves. I totally agree with you on all the other things you've mentioned that are pretty much impossible to do and look cool or stylish at the same time--but not climbing. And crawling/surviving? Hey,man,epics and mistakes are still evidence that someone has tried to DO something, not just lay around on the couch playing video games or tubing. To come crawling out of the mountains,windblasted, frostbit, sunburnt, gaunt and hollow eyed, with a thousand yard stare, but ALIVE, up and moving, still going straight ahead, having survived terrible and even tragic ordeals, now that is the very stuff and substance, the fucking MARROW of Style and Cool.Tell me that Joe Simpson isn't cool, man. Tell me that what Ed Hillary, John Harlin, Joe Brown, Tom Patey, Galen Rowell, John Gill, Louis Lachenal, Anderl Heckmair or Layton Kor did wasn't cool. Tell me, man, that Conrad Anker, Colin Haley, Will Gadd, John Long, Doug Robinson, Fred Beckey or Tom Frost aren't cool. And tell me that the guy next to you in the middle of the night freezing his ass off on the bivy ledge halfway up the east face of Liberty Bell or Grand wall, in the rain, the guy sorting the rack and taking off on the next lead with a big grin even though he's scared to death, tell me that guy isn't cool. He might look gawky or geeky, some of my early climbing partners sure were, guys with glasses so thick they looked like chunks busted out of the bottom of pop bottles,skinny arms,climbing in t-shirts and jeans, but hey, they were out there, hanging off of Snow Creek Wall, somewhere up in the Nightmare Needles, Nooksack Tower, North face of Mt. Index or Baring or Town Wall, Vesper Peak, Warbonnet or Pingora, and that's pretty cool. Style and cool are OLD, man, they've been around a LONG time, as B.B. King would say. The Vikings, the Masai,the mountain men; like old Hugh Glass, a hunter with Jacob Ashley's party heading up the Missouri, who got mauled so bad by a Grizzly he was left to die alone in the wilderness, but somehow survived, and crawled clear across what is now southern Wyoming and half of Nebraska, with a broken leg splinted with the rawhide from the grizzly, to finally reach St. Louis on foot after 6 months. John Colter, Tom Fitzpatrick, Bill Sublette, Jedediah Smith, Jim Bridger and Joe Meek, these were some very cool guys with plenty of style, who took survival to a high art, as well they might have, studying with none other than the Blackfeet, Cheyenne, Mescalero Apache, Gros Ventre, Paiute, Crow, Kiowa, Comanche and so on, who were the masters. The point is, style and cool are way more than looks. And even the things you mention which are impossible to look cool or stylish while doing, well, even those are, in a sense, basic daily survival, the thing that's in us that makes us keep at it, day after day, when it's miserable and boring, when we're sick or stupid or scared, when we still just keep putting one foot ahead of the other to get the kids to school or get the garbage out to the curb, get to work on time. When you think about it, that's really pretty cool. Even the guy driving with a mattress on top of his car. Life is not easy, yet people constantly amaze me the way they keep at it in spite of everything, and they do it with a lot of laughter and spirit, too, and that's style, for sure. Victor Hugo, in "Les Miserables", said "There is nothing more beautiful than a man who gets back on his feet."; an old Chinese proverb says, " Seven times knocked down, eight times get up." Putting on your socks? Man, that's a Zen koan, nothing less. Everyday life, nothing special, yet how magical and miraculous, whether doing your taxes or climbing the west face of Uli Biaho. Zen master Oda Sesso Roshi said, "Sweep the garden,any size." Very, very cool, and loads of style. It may not always look that way, or appear to be very evident. But I guarantee you it's there. If you don't see it now, someday you will.