Google Earth meme
Scott from Aleope Started this meme where you find a satellite pic of a childhood place and write a story about it. It didn't take me long to think of a topic.
The orange arrow is pointing to a tree we found in an area behind our neighborhood and bordering on a cement plant and industrial complex. This was a huge area to explore. It was in a basin that sometimes flooded so there was no housing construction.
Lucky for us. Me and my friends went exploring and found a huge tree where the rushing water had uncovered the roots. Each root was about as big around as a car.
The tree was at least 100 feet tall and 20 feet in diameter. From researching historic oak trees in the public library, this one had to be at least 500 to 1000 years old if not more.
We found the remnants of a tree fort in and around this giant oak and there were boards nailed into the side of the tree for climbing up.
I am terrified of heights but I climbed the 40 feet or so to the platform.
We soon got to work, nailing up new boards, devising a pulley system and we brought plywood to enclose the root system below like rooms.
We painted our work camouflage so that it wouldn't be so obvious that we were working out there.
My stupid ass friend liked to scare me, so he would go out on one of the upper limbs, walk out really far and dance around like a shithead.
The drop was so far that every time he moved around, my nuts crawled up in my throat from fear. I thought for sure I was going to have to drag his broken body home.
Actually he did fall out of the tree once while climbing down. He thought he would be slick and do a rapid decent to show off. Well, one of the boards broke and spun under his foot. He fell about 8 feet onto a safety platform I had just installed. He was a lucky sombitch. He yelled at me for putting that platform up because it hurt when he fell on it.
I was thinking it had to be better than the jagged rocks and roots 35 feet below that.
Pretty soon some other kids from our neighborhood wanted to claim the tree as their own.
We fought em for it. With slingshots, rocks, home made bows and arrows and pungee stick traps from directions my dad gave me from his time in Vietnam.
We were really lucky that nobody was hurt worse than they were. One really big mean kid fell in one of my traps and it could have impaled him badly but I guess I didn't have enough jungle training to make my pit as effective as it could have been.
The wars went back and forth for a while and we would wreck each others forts whenever given a chance.
Sadly, some construction company bulldozed a 50 foot high and 200 yard wide mountain of brush into the entrance to our paradise one day and that pretty much ended our forays into the forest.
Those were the days.
The orange arrow is pointing to a tree we found in an area behind our neighborhood and bordering on a cement plant and industrial complex. This was a huge area to explore. It was in a basin that sometimes flooded so there was no housing construction.
Lucky for us. Me and my friends went exploring and found a huge tree where the rushing water had uncovered the roots. Each root was about as big around as a car.
The tree was at least 100 feet tall and 20 feet in diameter. From researching historic oak trees in the public library, this one had to be at least 500 to 1000 years old if not more.
We found the remnants of a tree fort in and around this giant oak and there were boards nailed into the side of the tree for climbing up.
I am terrified of heights but I climbed the 40 feet or so to the platform.
We soon got to work, nailing up new boards, devising a pulley system and we brought plywood to enclose the root system below like rooms.
We painted our work camouflage so that it wouldn't be so obvious that we were working out there.
My stupid ass friend liked to scare me, so he would go out on one of the upper limbs, walk out really far and dance around like a shithead.
The drop was so far that every time he moved around, my nuts crawled up in my throat from fear. I thought for sure I was going to have to drag his broken body home.
Actually he did fall out of the tree once while climbing down. He thought he would be slick and do a rapid decent to show off. Well, one of the boards broke and spun under his foot. He fell about 8 feet onto a safety platform I had just installed. He was a lucky sombitch. He yelled at me for putting that platform up because it hurt when he fell on it.
I was thinking it had to be better than the jagged rocks and roots 35 feet below that.
Pretty soon some other kids from our neighborhood wanted to claim the tree as their own.
We fought em for it. With slingshots, rocks, home made bows and arrows and pungee stick traps from directions my dad gave me from his time in Vietnam.
We were really lucky that nobody was hurt worse than they were. One really big mean kid fell in one of my traps and it could have impaled him badly but I guess I didn't have enough jungle training to make my pit as effective as it could have been.
The wars went back and forth for a while and we would wreck each others forts whenever given a chance.
Sadly, some construction company bulldozed a 50 foot high and 200 yard wide mountain of brush into the entrance to our paradise one day and that pretty much ended our forays into the forest.
Those were the days.
posted by Bill Rowland @ January 12, 2007
16 Comments
16 Comments:
You don't sleep well do you?
Tree forts were the best. I'd love to do this on my favourite place growing up. hmmmmm
jeannie-- If you do, let me know...
I'd love to brag about ya...
Hammer-- You had ROOTS? No fair. No fair!
But did you have Lisa S. up there kissing you while you fought off warlords and dragons?
There is a tan oak on a friend of mine's friend's property big enough to make the book of records. It has a branch that comes down to the ground where you can simply hop on it and walk almost thirty feet into the tree.
Oak trees are the most amazing of creatures, second only in my mind to the mighty redwoods (at least in our neck of the woods).
I can't believe you put in pungee sticks!
The boys in one of my neighborhoods had a fort in a tree that bordered the creek. We could always hear laughing and carrying on up there, music blaring...we were so jealous. This brought back a great memory Hammer, thanks!
cool post
Sounds like fun! My best friend and I use to booby trap the house when our parents weren't home...it was so not safe...but it was sure fun!
We had a tree fort.
Yup, those were the days, when we stuck long sticks down in the outhouse poop and chased our sisters around. It was great exercise and entertainment for poor kids.
LOL
jeannie: I haven't slept properly in at least 5 years. It takes about a fifth of gin to knock me out.
Some trees when left unmolested grow to amazing hights and configurations. The pungees were stupid I know. But I really hated the assholes that were trying to muscle in on our tree.
kat: I would have let you up in our fort, but you would have had to be able to defend it ;)
lovelyand, thanks :)
jenny: Like the home alone movies? you'll have to tell us more.
Yep we didn't have money, or bikes or video games so the tree fort was better than all that.
The poop stick...not so much lol
I don't think video games exsisted when I was a kid. We were always making up our own games. Those were the days.
how do I get the map into my blog? I'm an idiot so don't speak techie
jeannieobrien@sympatico.ca
oh - and I can't get the arrow to go where I need it either because it's a rural route thing...is there a way to add stuff otherwise?
In my childhood years, a half-demolished house, a junkyard, or breaking into a factory were my playgrounds. These days they put up fences around construction zones and even playgrounds adhere to strict safety rules and of course there's the public liability shit that scares everybody. What's a kid to do these days for adventure?
Now that's my kind of fun. :)
Steve~
Wow! Great memories, huh Hammer? And yes, everything changes. If there's one truth in the world it's that nothing is permanent.
Of course sometimes our memories come close to violating that. Until we get Alzheimers. :)
I haven't done one-tenth of the stuff you've talked about on your blog, but I've done enough to often state, "It's a wonder so many of us survive to adulthood."
Looking back from a reasonably healthy adulthood, I say "Phew!" (wiping sweat off brow)
That sounds cool as hell. You sound like you had an exciting childhood.
Cool post. We had a similar place in Missouri in the early 70s. One tree was half rotted away, with one side opened up so we could shoot arrows into it. We'd listen for the thud when the arrows hit the red rotted bark. Called it the elephant tree. One day the bulldozers showed up and they started to clear the way for houses and roads. We declared war and tried to fuck up their dozers at night. Didn't work though. Found that place on Google Earth and it's still there, and much of the woods are still there. I'll have to take a trip up there some summer and check it out. It was a wonderland of danger and excitement.
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