When I grow up, I wanna be a lumberjill

So, I know that before I left for Japan, I wrote that I really want to train as an apprentice/old lady geisha. I still do. However, I’ve also decided that I would like to be a logrolling Lumberjill.

Sarah and I went to the 50th anniversary of the Lumberjack World Championships in Hayward, Wis., and it was incredible. Tix were $10 for an up-close-and-personal view of lumberjacks and lumberjills from all over the world who competed in a number of events. My favs are logrolling (duh) and the 90-foot climb. I have a video of the latter below, but I can’t figure out how to load it vertically, so turn your head sideways when you watch. (Do not count on me adding videography to my list of aspirational careers.) My camera battery died within the first 15 minutes (#$%*), so I have other videos and pics to load of events from Sarah’s camera once we head back home and snag her cord.

There are 114 professional competitors, and 20 of them are locals from Hayward. There’s even a logrolling school here (!). I started drooling when Sarah told me that her Y offers classes (sadly, just for kids). I even met one of the former champion logrollers who's a friend of Sarah’s family.

At the competition, there was a logrolling tank near the stands, and I gasped when I saw it. However, it was barely in the 70s, so I was not diving in with jeans (and a gaggle of kids who could probably cream me). Maybe someday…