On Sunny Lane: Let's Climb a Tree

Last weekend Sweetheart and I went to a bonfire/corn roast.

It was held in the yard of a former neighbor in the community where I lived before I met Sweetheart. She holds this shindig every year and it’s a lot of fun. Nothing can compare with the flavor of roasted corn freshly pulled from the coals of the fire.

My neighbor’s sons go to local businesses in the weeks leading up to the event, scavenging pallets and other scrap wood to be used as fuel for the fire.

This year they had an addition to the fire that was even more local. It was, what my friend referred to as, “the climbing tree.” Her three children grew up in that house and yard. Climbing that tree was one of their favorite pastimes. Now the tree was old and no longer fit to be climbed and the children--now in their 50s, did not want to climb it.

The situation reminded me of my own children and my own house and my own yard, where my children grew up just a half a mile from hers. I once asked one of my sons if he had climbed one particular tree on our property. He said, “I climbed all of the trees on our property.”

As a former tree climber myself, I can vouch for the satisfaction that comes from climbing a tree.

But, he didn’t just climb the trees, he built a tree-house in one of them. He was about 10 years old at the time. He got some scrap lumber that we had in the garage, a hammer and some nails and got to work. He added boards from time to time as he grew. The “house” had no sides or roof, except for the branches on the tree.

My three children and the neighbor children would sometimes crowd into the “house” and my son would sometimes go there when he wanted to be alone.

And then I began to think of the manufactured, state-of-the-art tree-houses and playhouses I see in yards as Sweetheart and I drive by. I seldom see children playing in them. And I wonder how much the children would treasure them if they had taken a few old boards, a hammer and some nails and built a makeshift house of their own.

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Dorothy is the author of two books—“Miles and Miracles” and “Getting It All Together “. You can purchase a book or send a comment by emailing her at dorothybutzknight@gmail.com