You’re probably familiar with the stories of how kids often want a cool tree house. You probably have kids who want one. Maybe they already have one. Or you may know of someone else who has a treehouse. Or maybe they’re calling it a clubhouse. Call it whatever you want, but there’s always been the idea to have a cool little home built on or in a tree so kids could hang out with their friends and talk about things like comics, video games, monsters, and how to fight them.
Okay so that’s the plot to The Monster Squad, but still, this is something that kids have always wanted to do. Anyhow, here’s my story…
I can’t pinpoint what age I was when I wanted a treehouse, but I remember wanting one really bad. Every time I saw a character in a movie or TV show who had one, I’d ask my parents about having one. My dad, however, was always nervous about me or my brothers falling out and other safety concerns. Plus, there weren’t exactly treehouse-friendly trees around. That said, my brothers and I often explored outside and would improvise with whatever we came across.
One tree actually had what looked like a deck right next to it, but even though we could’ve turned that into a little house, I felt it would’ve looked a little too simplistic and wouldn’t really be making use of the tree itself. So our search continued.
Then there was another tree which, while nice and big, didn’t really have much to work with. I recall it being… a little too big to cut through. Plus, it was close to some neighbors and we didn’t want to make a lot of noise and bother them. Once again, the search continued.
One day, while exploring, my brothers and I saw a really neat looking tree that wasn’t close to any homes. It was in a nice big area and had cool low curving branches that practically screamed, “Turn me into a treehouse!” Best of all, it had this neat sort of hidden quality that made it feel like nobody else would stumble upon it.
I would draw what it looked like, but my tree drawings might end up looking a little phallic. I may have taken a photo at some point, but I have no clue where my old photos are. After searching around online, I feel that this photo of an oak tree from the Southern Pride Tree Farm blog is probably the closest one I could find that resembles it enough.
Anyway, it was a cool tree and we turned one of the low arching branches into the front part. We leaned numerous branches against it and left enough of a gap to serve as the entry. Forming a back part was always tricky, mainly since the sticks we’d use would always fall over, but we just kept fixing it and would even look for pieces of wood to use. In a way, it felt like we were making a cave. We’d play with toys over there, take food like sandwiches or hotdogs with us, and hang out while talkin’ about this and that. Every now and then, I’d go out to the area with a rake and clean it up so we could use other parts of the tree and make it look nicer.
There were other little things I wanted to try, like having an area to climb on at a higher branch almost with the intention of it being like a “crow’s nest” from pirate ships. If there were enough wood, I would’ve loved to have turned the whole tree into something reminiscent of The Swiss Family Robinson’s treehouse, but that was out of the question since we just didn’t have the resources.
Unfortunately, after a few years or so, we learned that the tree and the whole area was gonna be torn down to make way for housing. It was definitely a bummer since my brothers and friends loved playing over there, but with many other interests I had going on, I knew I’d be able to move onto other things. We went to the spot and I remember seeing ribbons placed on it, indicating to the construction workers to tear it down. I grabbed whatever little toys we had there, and never returned.
I mean, it’s not like we were gonna do the thing from that one episode of The Wonder Years where Kevin and his friends tried to protest the construction of a mall that was being built by a crew who had to tear down their favourite childhood hangout spot, Harper’s Woods. Nor were we gonna do the thing from that one Wishbone episode where Joe and his friends protested construction that would’ve torn down their favourite park.
…wait, why was that plot used in two different shows?
Anyway, there wasn’t anything we could do about the construction. It was definitely sad to see that area with the tree taken down, but at the same time, it was pretty neat knowing that more people wanted to move into the area. I never did like it all that much before where it was just my home and a few others scattered apart.
Every now and then, I do like to think about what I might’ve done if that tree hadn’t been cut down. With all the movies and TV shows I saw (don’t judge me), I definitely would’ve gotten more ideas for what to do.
The treehouse in Disney’s adaptation of The Swiss Family Robinson always stands out as one of my all-time favourites, especially after I went to Disneyland and got to play on the Swiss Family Treehouse attraction (now re-themed as Tarzan’s Treehouse). Or how about the famous Ewok village from Return of the Jedi? Or Bart and Lisa’s treehouse in The Simpsons? And don’t forget the treehouse in The Sandlot where the kids would tell stories and eat s’mores! Then there’s the treehouse that the kids built on the ginormous tree that housed the evil troll Trantor in Ernest Scared Stupid. That one looked really fun and awesome, especially when they had all those things set up to fight off bullies and all the other trolls at the end.
All that reminiscing aside, there are plenty more things out there for me to work on, but every time I see a cool-looking tree or treehouse, I always think back to those days. And to anyone who does have one, enjoy it and always stay safe! Keep building, keep playing, and never forget to have fun.
This has been another installment of My Personal Misadventures. Thanks for reading! o/
And yes, I watched Ernest Scared Stupid. It’s an undisputed classic, don’t judge me.
Kasey Lewis - Actor, Writer, Creator 