I have a lot of childhood memories regarding tree houses. So I'm placing them all here in case I forget them entirely. I'm getting old, you see, and I don't want to let go of some of the best memories of my childhood life.
I remember the first tree house I ever climbed. It wasn't exactly a tree house per se but was simply a plank of wood wedged between two humongous branches of Tita Prining's tree. It was put there by Kuya Arnel, a cousin, and when we went to Nabunturan, my brothers and I would take turns climbing up and sitting on that plank. The task of climbing was easy since the tree already had blocks of wood nailed on its trunk. Although the view wasn't exactly spectacular (it only offered us a second-floor view of the church backyard and other people's yards), the experience was a certified adrenaline rush, which more than compensated for the moribund view.
I also remember the time when every boy in the neighborhood was into the tree house craze. Almost everyone was into building tree houses. It certainly helped that in our part of the subdivision, there were two large vacant lots full of ipil-ipil trees and cogon grass.
If I remember right, the craze happened when Hansel, the local bully, built a makeshift wooden chair on one of the trees adjacent to Gladiola street. This was so he could have a better view of the basketball "court", which was the street itself, every time games were played.
After that, Gin-gin, the recognized alpha male in the group, proceeded in building his own tree house on the other side of the street. The target was a taller tree and it promised a better view. He started by building a chair high up on the tree. Then he solicited everybody's participation by ordering everyone to gather plywood and nails. It so happened that our house' perimeter then was littered with scrap material and so it was easy for my brothers and I to get involved in the project.
Soon, what used to be just a tree chair resembled more and more like a tree house. In the end, the tree house amounted to four levels of wooden structure. The first level, resting on the bottom branches, was a simple wooden floor that served as a mess hall. The second, higher level was another floor but this time, with railings attached to the side. The third level was the same as the second, but only smaller. And the fourth level was simply a chair, where one can get a good view of the adjoining neighborhoods, and where only the brave could sit ( for the simple fact that one could already feel the tree sway with the winds on that height).
That tree house became the focal point of our existence during vacations. It was where the gang had the occasional lunch picnic of hotdogs, noodles, cola and rice. It was also our refuge from the boredom at home, when the sun was still too high for afternoon basketball, when computer games were still not in the picture, and when Otto's crazy goat, Joseph, was still alive and loose.
I remember that, after some time, a business proposal came up and Gin-gin opened the tree house for eco-tourism. He invited Laura and Noynoy, the children of Attorney Magulta, to climb up the tree house for a fee: five pesos per person ( if I remember right). Unfortunately, that business never took off because, seeing her ward climbing the rickety tree house, the yaya hastened to chastise both Laura and Noynoy for their reckless behavior ( They were able to climb, yes, but Gin-gin couldn't collect the money any more. Bummer).
Looking back, I guess the rest of us were fortunate enough that our parents never really cared about what we were doing. They may have known about the tree houses but that knowledge didn't in any way impede the fun.
And the craze just went on. Soon, Hansel got jealous of our tree house and made a more legitimate one up another tree. The house was only a simple wooden floor with some shade and side railings but it had a unique security feature: a password machine. Actually, the machine was just a thick, square plyboard nailed onto the base of the trunk. What Hansel did was draw a diagram of a keyboard onto it. Afterwards, he insisted that only those who can "type" the secret password can climb up. As the days passed by, the password machine gradually became a joke and people, including me, would secretly climb up his tree house during the times when he wasn't around ( Hehe. So much for security).
Otto's cousin, who was famous for his feat of once inserting a hand into a cow's anus, also built his own tree house. His tree house was probably the most decent tree house ever because he used newly cut wood for his "tree shed". We climbed up that one too.
Not to be outdone, my brothers also made their own tree house. We had a small tree at the left corner of our lot after all. What they did was they nailed together a wooden floor complete with an entry trapdoor on the branches of that tree. Unfortunately, that pseudo-tree house didn't last long because the tree was cut down to make way for the garage shed.
And the same fate grimly awaited the ipil-ipil trees of our tree houses. One of our neighbors ordered his henchmen to seal off the vacant lots and cut down those trees to make way for his vegetable patch. As children, we were powerless to stop the onslaught. That, I think, signaled the end of my childhood.
Looking back, those years with the tree houses were probably the most fun-filled years of my young life. I even floated the idea that perhaps the Ateneo Matina Campus should also have their own tree house on top of one of their majestic Acacia trees, just to make sure the students won't be missing anything special while they're still young.
Oh well, let's see if that idea flies off.
I remember the first tree house I ever climbed. It wasn't exactly a tree house per se but was simply a plank of wood wedged between two humongous branches of Tita Prining's tree. It was put there by Kuya Arnel, a cousin, and when we went to Nabunturan, my brothers and I would take turns climbing up and sitting on that plank. The task of climbing was easy since the tree already had blocks of wood nailed on its trunk. Although the view wasn't exactly spectacular (it only offered us a second-floor view of the church backyard and other people's yards), the experience was a certified adrenaline rush, which more than compensated for the moribund view.
I also remember the time when every boy in the neighborhood was into the tree house craze. Almost everyone was into building tree houses. It certainly helped that in our part of the subdivision, there were two large vacant lots full of ipil-ipil trees and cogon grass.
If I remember right, the craze happened when Hansel, the local bully, built a makeshift wooden chair on one of the trees adjacent to Gladiola street. This was so he could have a better view of the basketball "court", which was the street itself, every time games were played.
After that, Gin-gin, the recognized alpha male in the group, proceeded in building his own tree house on the other side of the street. The target was a taller tree and it promised a better view. He started by building a chair high up on the tree. Then he solicited everybody's participation by ordering everyone to gather plywood and nails. It so happened that our house' perimeter then was littered with scrap material and so it was easy for my brothers and I to get involved in the project.
Soon, what used to be just a tree chair resembled more and more like a tree house. In the end, the tree house amounted to four levels of wooden structure. The first level, resting on the bottom branches, was a simple wooden floor that served as a mess hall. The second, higher level was another floor but this time, with railings attached to the side. The third level was the same as the second, but only smaller. And the fourth level was simply a chair, where one can get a good view of the adjoining neighborhoods, and where only the brave could sit ( for the simple fact that one could already feel the tree sway with the winds on that height).
That tree house became the focal point of our existence during vacations. It was where the gang had the occasional lunch picnic of hotdogs, noodles, cola and rice. It was also our refuge from the boredom at home, when the sun was still too high for afternoon basketball, when computer games were still not in the picture, and when Otto's crazy goat, Joseph, was still alive and loose.
I remember that, after some time, a business proposal came up and Gin-gin opened the tree house for eco-tourism. He invited Laura and Noynoy, the children of Attorney Magulta, to climb up the tree house for a fee: five pesos per person ( if I remember right). Unfortunately, that business never took off because, seeing her ward climbing the rickety tree house, the yaya hastened to chastise both Laura and Noynoy for their reckless behavior ( They were able to climb, yes, but Gin-gin couldn't collect the money any more. Bummer).
Looking back, I guess the rest of us were fortunate enough that our parents never really cared about what we were doing. They may have known about the tree houses but that knowledge didn't in any way impede the fun.
And the craze just went on. Soon, Hansel got jealous of our tree house and made a more legitimate one up another tree. The house was only a simple wooden floor with some shade and side railings but it had a unique security feature: a password machine. Actually, the machine was just a thick, square plyboard nailed onto the base of the trunk. What Hansel did was draw a diagram of a keyboard onto it. Afterwards, he insisted that only those who can "type" the secret password can climb up. As the days passed by, the password machine gradually became a joke and people, including me, would secretly climb up his tree house during the times when he wasn't around ( Hehe. So much for security).
Otto's cousin, who was famous for his feat of once inserting a hand into a cow's anus, also built his own tree house. His tree house was probably the most decent tree house ever because he used newly cut wood for his "tree shed". We climbed up that one too.
Not to be outdone, my brothers also made their own tree house. We had a small tree at the left corner of our lot after all. What they did was they nailed together a wooden floor complete with an entry trapdoor on the branches of that tree. Unfortunately, that pseudo-tree house didn't last long because the tree was cut down to make way for the garage shed.
And the same fate grimly awaited the ipil-ipil trees of our tree houses. One of our neighbors ordered his henchmen to seal off the vacant lots and cut down those trees to make way for his vegetable patch. As children, we were powerless to stop the onslaught. That, I think, signaled the end of my childhood.
Looking back, those years with the tree houses were probably the most fun-filled years of my young life. I even floated the idea that perhaps the Ateneo Matina Campus should also have their own tree house on top of one of their majestic Acacia trees, just to make sure the students won't be missing anything special while they're still young.
Oh well, let's see if that idea flies off.
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