brindleblog'n

Water Tower (cont.)
Here is an image of a home in Sunset Beach with an elevator............
This home is extraordinary similar to the water tower I speak of and I believe was modeled after it..........
The Water Tower was taller and the barrell was thinner in diameter
The barrell wasn't as tall and there was a chain link fence all around the base of it..........
the tower had a plywood sign cut out called ZOT......which lasted for years until one day it remained no more.............I looked at the tower as a really big piece of canvas now

I am at home it is 11:30pm, a late october or early november evening with triple dense fog

I get into my red oxidized fiat, bleach blonde hair, like a warrior, dressed in black pants, black shoes, black turtleneck shirt, and a black ski mask I have in the backpack full of spray cans

The drive was excruciately slow as I had to open the car door sometimes and see the lines on the blacktop to see where I was going, the fog was thick but intermittent........

I arrive to the neighborhood of the water tower and park several blocks away, pack up my backpack and begin a little brisk walk toward the tower.............I am soooooooooo close now, my heart races, my breathing accelerates.

The Climb
I reach the tower and scale the fence with relative ease

I assess my acension of the tower and slow my beathing down...........I am in absolutely no hurry
I adopt a zero tolerance for failure as I am very intimidated looking up to the bottom of the tower from it's base...........It is an ominous feeling.........a very quite nervous laugh involuntarily utters
I enjoy the moment for awhile, I have plenty of time and I'm ready now to do or die

I don't need my skimask as the fog is so dense and the wind is still.......
I pack my backpack tight and zip it up, ease it onto my shoulders so that all the balls in the paint cans don't make too much noise, I click the stomach belt to hold the backpack to my body if I have to hang upside down...........

I feel the ball in the paint cans in my backpack react to my movements so I slow myself down again

Like a sloth I lay a hand on the first wooden beam of the tower........and begin to climb
I start my climb with a kind of body wedge my with my feet extended and I would isometric lift to a point where I could then reach up with an arm pull up to next level and do it again..........about halfway up the tower the fog lifted a little and I panicked..........
I saw someone in the window of the home right nextdoor to the tower look out toward me but not right at me....I froze
thinking that I blew it not wearing my mask at this moment.............I just became apart of the tower like a military man inside of a bush...........
I became, a black human growth on that towers leg!!!! I never flinched, I just remained motionless..........after what seemed a very long time the drapes were pulled and the fog began to increase in density, I climbed to the top, slowly, up to the underside of the walkway around the tower...........

Exilirated at a substantial victory of at least climbing the damn tower to the top.....
I rested up for awhile and saw it.........
I had to literally hang by my own two hands on a 4 x 6 plank suspended
80 feet in the air and go hand over hand about 6 times..........then while suspended hanging by my hands only, swing my feet into the opening of the walkway....hanging perilously by my feet and hands upsidedown then contort up through the hole in the walkway to ultimate victory or failure

This is where calling it quits came most upon my soul and entire essence

After some soul searching and a very very quite time with myself I squatted my next step toward the edge instead of downward to home..........

I got into position and let all my weight rest on one hand for a test run..........this is when I found out the birds like to perch here............the plank was full of bird droppings ..........slippery
at this point a hushed "fuck" came out of my mouth and a pissed off look of determination came upon my face, my lips clinching tight, my brow furred....as I knew this was the critical moment of do or die...........go forward or give up

I reached with the other hand and now I hang by my hands 80 feet in the air,
I snapped into a hand over hand rythym 6 times, each hand making a new hand imprint through the bird droppings....I feel like throwing up, but am too frightened to do anything but go forward

No time was wasted to get my feet in the opening as I was getting heavy and my hands and fingers were fatiguing...........

my feet already through the hole, I grab with one hand the inside of the opening and then committ with the other hand on the other side, I am fully vulnerable to a fall to my death here, I am like a spider in a hole......feet spread on one side hands spread out on the other.........I contort my legs upward to raise my torso through the topside of the hole my head almost pointing straight toward the ground as I position to pull my arms and torso through the opening...........

My right hand begins to slip and slide from all the bird crap on it and with uneartly adrenaline I pull myself up and roll over on to the top on the platform where I roll once more to get some distance from the all mighty hole

Freak Out
I lay where I finished rolling for about 10 minutes (no smiles).............catching up on my breath
facing toward the sky....my eyes are very wide open as I look blankly into the fog passing me by
as my breathing becomes less forced
(then a small smile comes over me)
I did it...holy shit..... I did it.........of course the first thing I thought of is, holy shit I have to go back down that way again

I get as relaxed as a child on x-mas eve and then I pop up and I start to get to work

I break out all of my cans out of the back pack color seperated in such a manner that I won't step on them or they roll off the edge and I can assess how much paint I am using so I can guarantee finsihing the project

I don't have to shake the cans of paint because my brother helped me shake them before my journey
I begin to sketch out a wave...........

One thing I didn't take into account was that once up on the platform..........I only have a foot of space to back up before I fall off the edge and that my canvas is round...........there is a metal strap around the tower....
I hang on it as I walk around the walkway hugged closely to the round tower and test the wood all around to make sure I won't plummet earthward because of a terminite board....all checks out well....the railing was wabbly so I won't ever lean on it at all....ever.......

As I hold onto the metal strap I arch my body backwards and begin to sketch the wave by memory as I can't see much of the layout only an estimation of where I should be....I sketch it all out and I am begining to fill in the colors of my sketch when I hear a commotion on the ground..............

I hear a car pull up and I freeze in mid paint swing........the fog lifts just enough that I can make out it's a cop car.......maybe someone in the window on the way up did see me?...............the cop car shines its big lights on the tower....I drop to my knees exactly at the same time the light hits the tower, pure reflex................you can really see the beam of light in the fog
I crawl slowly over to the opposite side of the round tower and sit there...........
freaking out to the max...............
a cop came over the loudspeaker if anyone is on that tower show yourself.........

!!!!!FREAKING OUT TIME!!!!!

I planned this in the fog because a helicopter wouldn't risk flying in it........I am paralized however and have no idea what to do
The loudspeaker comes on a few more times but I just stay put and keep my mouth shut..........
knowing if I don't say something soon I am even more trouble
What do I do now as I generous ooze with freak out?
My strategy..........I have the most time out of anyone.........I'll just layed down and took a nap
if they wanted me so baldy they can come up and get me, in the meantime I will remain motionless so that everyone goes away

Felt like an hours nap with eyes mostly open...........
let everyone settle down from the noise....including myself....I began to get cold from my sweat
this is when I popped back up and started painting again

I finished my painting and added the words on top of my artwork "save bolsa chica"

A tremondous sense of accomplishment came over me as I shimmied back down the tower....
getting back through the hole was much less exciting as getting up through it for the first time
minus all the weight of the paint in my back pack....I kept focused to get down safe so I could see the mural in the morning.............I kind of skipped/ran back to my car trying not to letthe paint cans make noise
it was about 4:00 in the morning

Drive By
Got up first light to do a drive by to see how the mural came out

The moring was foggy so I went to school & work and drove by the following morning to a perfect crisp clear california day to see the mural in all of its glory........................
the first time I glimpsed it I just started laughing...it wasn't perfect but it was most definitely up there for all to see.............

I pulled a U-turn and made three or four passes to see it without stopping

I told just the people I trusted to view it as I was still worried that I could be arrested for some kind of weird defacing law

Over time my paranoia relaxed and told anyone whom would listen
I still get people who come up to me that knew me back then and shake their heads knowing that I pulled it off

Somewhere I still have the photo of the mural I will share with you when I find it

This event gave me the confidence to continue with my art and not take a failing grade or a burned out grumpy old art teacher seriously.........
it taught me that the world was full of adults that could make or break me as I climbed the mountain of life in quest of my own place in it

Art is subjective in nature,
don't give up on yourself.......if you want something bad enough
you'll find a way to get it in time