Leland enjoying his birthday present from his brother Lamont--bodacious!

Scroll down for today's dahlia, Bodacious, from Swan Island Dahlias.

Last Tuesday Lamont called and said that if I wanted to ride the bus to Colonel Summers Park at SE 20th and Belmont after work, they'd have Leland's slack line set up. I could watch. I could take photos! Awwright!

Today I've posted several photos of Leland jumping up onto the slack line. Later, I'll have more photos of him and some of Lamont as well.

The sun shone brightly as I walked the seven blocks to SE 7th and Belmont where I boarded the 15. When I got off, I saw the two of them across the park to the south, the slack line set up between two trees, about three feet off the ground.

I got off the bus at the stop beside the bus shelter, there in the distance behind Leland in this photo.


See the slack line, on the left, that green blur. Leland's right foot has landed on it, making it vibrate. He bought that carpet sample you see beneath the red cord, cutting it in half so that he would protect each tree--gotta love that son of mine!


The guys saw another guy on a slackline, sitting on it, balancing on one foot, holding his other one up behind him. So, naturally, Leland had to give sitting on it a try. Later on Lamont went over to ask him a few questions and came back to tell us that he said he's been doing this balancing act since 2004. Lamont and Leland have been at it for five to six weeks, starting out at The Circuit, a Southwest Portland bouldering gym.


A bit about slacklining, from Wikiepedia: Slacklining is a balance sport which uses nylon webbing stretched tight between two anchor points. Slacklining is distinct from tightrope walking in that the line is not held rigidly taut; it is instead dynamic, stretching and bouncing like a long and narrow trampoline. The line's tension can be adjusted to suit the user and different types of dynamic webbing can be used to achieve a variety of feats. The line itself is flat, due to the nature of webbing, thus keeping the slacker's footing from rolling as would be the case with an ordinary rope. The dynamic nature of the line allows for impressive tricks and stunts.

Today's dahlia, Bodacious. Facts from Swan Island Dahlias--Bloom: 11" Bright Orange, Bush: 4 1/2'