Grid Ascent

Slipping out past the front entrance into the morning street, I headed toward the café patio where three lightweight metal bistro chairs sat stacked in an inverted tower. I dropped into a low quadrupedal crouch to evaluate the overlapping tubular legs before committing to an ascent. Hooking both curved hands around the lowest crossbar, I hoisted my frame upward, threading smoothly between the crisscrossing steel struts. Midway up, a slight shift in weight tilted the top frame against the brick wall. Instead of dropping back, I flattened my center of gravity against the rung, letting my joints absorb the pivot as the metal settled firmly into balance.