What's a Slacker?

When I first saw these in our neighbor's yards, I thought someone did a great job at selling them the idea that tying their trees together would help them stand up taller.  Really, 20 something year old 100 foot pine trees would move and be more straight?  So gullible!!!

Well, turns out that's not what these brightly colored ropes were between the trees.  It's the newest outdoor crazy called Slackers.  Slacklining is a practice in balance that typically uses 1 or 2 inch nylon webbing tensioned between two anchor points, which are trees in our neighborhood.  slacklining is good exercise because it teaches balance and really works at your core while having fun.  Yes, I have gotten on the lines and played or even was more serious and tried to walk across without falling off.  The falling off part happens a lot!  I learned we have to clear out the pine cones in the area because those suckers draw blood when your foot lands on one.....or maybe wearing shoes would be easier.

Here are Collin and one of his friends goofing around on the Slackers: