Thursday, March 27, 2008

The Treehouse


One early summer, after an abortive attempt at a kid-constructed treehouse, and a lot of pleading by children, several fathers collaborated and sawed off one trunk of an apple tree in our back yard. They found a sturdy wooden packing crate (would one even be available now?), removed a plank to form a window, and sawed another plank out to form a door. Somehow they hoisted it onto the trunk and then nailed boards to the trunk below it. VOILA! A treehouse of our very own!

Several of us would jam ourselves into it and hold "secret" meetings, play all sorts of fantasy games of Tarzan or the like. It was painted blue-green on the outside, with the inside left plain wood. It was in our yard (presumably because the other yards were too small or landscaped for such an obtrusive child dwelling), so we had dibs on it. I would hole up there at times and just daydream.

It was removed, along with the apple trees, the currant bushes, and the swing set, when Mom and Dad had the patio built and the yard landscaped. I did not even miss it, as I was long gone.