You do remember playing in tree houses, don’t you? The excitement of clambering up the tree to reach your secret perch; the importance you reveled in because you had a secret hideout that few people were privy to; and the joy that came from the simple knowledge that you had a place to call your own.
Today, what can beat the pleasure playing war games in your tree house or simply sitting there listening to the call of the birds and watching the trees sway in the wind? Standing at that height you must have felt almost dizzy with the sense of power you seemed to have over all things under your feet – Lord & Master of all that you saw!
Have you read that poem by Ruskin Bond, “Grandma climbs a tree?” Here’s how it starts off:
My grandmother was a genius. You’d like to know why?
Because she could climb trees. Spreading or high,
She’d be up their branches in a trice. And mind you,
When last she climbed a tree, she was sixty-two.
The poem goes on to describe the joy this sprightly old lady got from climbing trees and how she decided to rubbish the belief that people should age gracefully and not exhibit such childish tendencies. She managed to have her way, and finally, her son set about to building her a house in the tree. The poem ends on these notes:
So Granny moved up, and now every day
I climb to her room with glasses and a tray.
She sits there in state and drinks sherry with me,
Upholding her right to reside in a tree.
I’ve always wondered what it must feel like to live in a tree house. I’m determined to find out sometime or the other and it’s on my list of “Top things to do before I kick the bucket.” However, for Peter Bahouth, the former director of Greenpeace, living in a tree house is not just a novel idea.
He has built a cozy getaway spot behind his house and it is…..you guessed right, a tree house. He’s connected three trees to build a beautiful, yet rugged, retreat. Cradled in the woods, this amazing structure overlooks a stream, and it is furnished well enough as far as tree houses go. Any time Bahouth wants to take a break from the hectic pace of the city, he doesn’t have to go any further than his backyard.
To see this fabulous tree house, that has charmed its way right into my heart, click here http://bit.vc/zO.
And to read an interview with Peter Bahouth and hear his opinion, go here: http://bit.vc/dI.
