Tree House 2.0

Stephanie's tree house underwent a refit last week. After nearly twenty years, it needed it. Smitty helped me build this down in Florida one summer back when Stephanie was about six. I think we spent about $100 for materials. It was set on stilt about six feet high in between some trees in Grandma and Grandpa Smith's back yard. This was when I really learned to appreciate Smitty's problem solving abilities. He takes the time to think things through, whereas I plow right in, usually making regrettable mistakes. We ended up with a tree house built to last twenty years or more.

When we moved to Oregon, I cut the stilts off and transported it in the back of my old big blue truck, which in turn was towed by the U-haul. It made quite a spectacle. In Oregon, it found a new spot in our back yard in between two evergreens.

Not being on stilts allowed it to be overrun by all sorts of crawly things, which in turn kept the intended inhabitants from using it much. The Oregon rains had been working on the roof, and many summers of sun had faded the paint. Jeff, my son-in-law, instigated the overhaul, which is fitting considering it started as a father-in-law project. Being quite a handy man, he didn't learn much from me on this one. Smitty played more of a consultant role, probably humored by the role reversals.

Now it has a new roof, is back up on stilts (actually a foot higher than originally), and has a front porch. It is ready for another twenty years, and a new generation of inhabitants.