Sunday 1 August 2010

Pyloneering

A nose, like a mountain peak, is a triangle. It is the simplest feature of the face – or the natural landscape - than can possibly be drawn with a ruler. Noses are blown, and in the hills, it blows like hell. Mountains and noses are both prone to avalanches. You do not have to look far – you only have to follow your nose - to find many uses for noses. We are all familiar with: 'he wore his heart on his sleeve'. But it's also possible - if somewhat unfashionable - to wear your nose on your sleeve (as well as wipe it there, too). Structures such as bridges, cranes and pylons are made up of mountains of noses. But a nose, unlike a mountain, can be broken quite easily: like a heart.
Robert has come upon a steel tower for carrying electric power cables and he sees the whole framework is really a giant set of connected noses, leading to a break in the cloud that appears to reveal the Matterhorn.
The ascent of pylons is a branch of mountaineering all by itself, called Pyloneering, and is practiced by visionary children like Robert, to reach the clouds.

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