On my run this afternoon, I started thinking about what I should write about today, and I began focusing more intently on my surroundings. The airplane coming in for landing? Maybe. The construction of the sound barrier wall between 395 and Army Navy Drive? Definitely not. Trees? Yes! What about them? Then a question popped into my mind: where are all the tree climbers? Are kids still climbing trees? A few good climbing trees loom large in my memory.
Some of my scariest memories are being stuck way up in the top of a tree across a cul-de-sac from my house, and I only have my ego to blame. Kids would say, “You’ll never make it to the top,” which was all I needed to jump up and grab the lowest branch, swing my leg up over it, inch my way to the trunk, and pull myself up to a stand. It was a heady experience slowly and steadily making my way up and up, as the other kids watched from the ground, squinting up into the leafy green. I’d make it to the top and peer out over the leaves longingly at my house, starting to tremble a little, wondering how bad living in a tree would really be. Eventually, someone would talk me down, as I searched gingerly with my foot for a lower branch, some with such a gap between them that I practically had to do the splits to reach it. When I hit the ground, I was so relieved I nearly wept. Whew. I’d never do THAT again…today.
I asked Edwin if he ever climbed a tree, and he grinned and asked, “Is this for your blog?” Yeah, so…? Well, he has! He’d climb them at the park a few blocks away, but they stopped when the county pruned the branches and they could no longer reach the lowest branch. Outrageous. Maybe I should be the crazy lady at the board meeting who rants about the lack of good tree-climbing trees in our county parks. I bet nobody’s claimed that one.
My Corner of the Village 