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Thursday, January 30, 2014

a long overdue YEEHAW from ELC...


Treehouse Masters! My recently discovered TV series on Animal Planet! I heart/adore/covet treehouses.

Background (I had to Wikipedia this information for y'all—I could remember a lot, but needed a teensy bit of help to explain it adequately): 

In 1960 (I was 6 years old), a Disney movie came out called Swiss Family Robinson. If y’all are young (to me that’s 45ish and under), I hope you’ve discussed, with your parents or grandparents, their/our entertainment options back in the 50s and 60s. Even 70s! Obviously those years were significantly different for all of us—compared to our/your options—our/your kids’ options—today. Going to a movie was a MAJOR event and treat. We wanted to look nice. Not church clothes, but we were clean, our hair was brushed and fixed, our clothes were our school clothes. Unless we were going from Church. Then we stayed in our "Church" clothes. (This was much like "dressing up" to go on plane trips. My first plane trip happened when I was 16. I was "dressed up" for that.) Disney movies, westerns, comedies (Doris Day movies were some of my most favourite), musicals—all of these were what we, as children, pre-teens, teens, had in the way of entertainment. A lot of what we saw was in black and white. But Disney movies were in color. Swiss Family Robinson was Disney’s first widescreen film.

It’s about a family—Mom, Dad and three sons—who’re on their way to New Guinea (I believe from Switzerland. Hence "Swiss Family Robinson.") when the ship they’re on is chased by pirates into a storm and, eventually, wrecked. The captain and crew abandon the ship off an uninhabited island. Not knowing when, or even if, they will be rescued, Dad and the two older sons construct a treehouse, taking much of what they need to make a home from the wrecked ship. Y’all, this was no ordinary treehouse. This was fancy—especially for what was, I think, the mid to late 1800s.

As the movie progresses, they discover who they believe is a young boy on the island. PLOT TWIST: She’s a girl! The two older brothers quickly begin to compete for her affections. And so begins the “love story” part of this charming movie. I won’t tell y’all any more. I think it’s still a great movie for kids nowadays! Full of comedy, drama, adventure. MAGIC.

Hopefully I've conveyed the impact this movie had on me. I’m 1000% certain this is when my love for trees and treehouses began.

At our home in town, where we lived for over 22 years, we had a HUGE Mulberry tree in our backyard. Big enough to safely climb. TLC and I would carefully scoot up it’s thick branches on a pretty Spring, Summer or Fall day. We’d dream. Visit. Laugh. We moved to our country casa in 2000. Once our home was built, at the back of our property and on our big hill, I began telling My Sweet Hubby (MSH) I wished we could build a treehouse at the very top. It faces West. We could watch the stunning sunsets we are blessed by our Lord God Almighty to see at the end of each day from our Casa in the Trees. This dream of mine hasn't happened yet. I haven’t completely given up.

You can imagine my sheer and utter JOY when I found this TV show about three weeks ago. After watching the first one (each show lasts an hour), I promptly put it on a Season Pass (that’s the terminology I've used for this process ever since we got our TIVO/DVR twenty years ago). I’ve watched approximately ten of these shows. A new season recently started.

Pete is the Treehouse Master. Builder. Architect. He and his wife, Judy, and their three grown kids—Emily, and twins Charlie and Henry—live at Treehouse Point in Fall City, Washington. (You can stay there! They have weddings, etc. They've got many unique treehouses. Looks fabulous!) Pete and his Team go all over America building the most incredible treehouses. There’s his foreman, Daryl. Several “riggers”—Alex, Ian and Seanix are three I’ve seen. His carpenters: Dylan, Devon and Toby. Bubba is their Carpenter/Philosopher. One of his twins is usually on a job. All of them are tres interesting peeps.

If you’re like me, and treehouses represent fun/magic/adventure to you, I think you’d seriously enjoy this show!

Yeehaw, Y'all!