Treehouse Chronicles: One Man's Dream of Life Aloft (Hardcover)

When I was a young boy, my Great Grandfather built me a small house, a one room, fully finished house of about 8 feet by 10 feet. My Dad poured a concrete slab to put it on so that it wouldn't be harmed by the moisture of the soil. And, oh, how I loved that little house!

Unfortunately, the house had two drawbacks: It wasn't in a tree (there were no such trees in our neighborhood) and I had to share the house with my sister who filled it with dolls when I was about 10.

All of that receded into the background until my wife and I went looking for a house when our older son was about one. I kept admiring the houses with tall, strong trees . . . and dreamed of a tree house.

When a little liquidity began to develop in my budget, I started surveying the trees in earnest. I began measuring heights, looking for closely matched trees to help bear the weight and inspected the potential views by climbing into the trees. Then a handyman offered to build a treehouse for me, just like I dreamed.

I was very excited until I found out what it would cost. I didn't have the time or skills to build such a substantial tree house to bring the cost down within my budget. On a much scaled down cost, I did design a tree fort that my sons and I loved while they were little.

But I still yearn for that treehouse I designed. As a writer, I'd love to cozy up there, gaze out towards the horizon and develop great thoughts.

Was I ever envious when I found this book. Someone had lived my dream! Knowing a little about how this kind of construction is done, I found myself guessing how the various problems were solved. I found another touchstone to my past, the numbers of times my Dad and I had worked together to trim and remove huge trees. My job was often to tie safety ropes (so the limbs didn't end up smashing something or someone) to high, upper branches. Being afraid of heights, those experiences were always intense ones. We worked with a will and always used lots of improvisation to good effect.

The Treehouse Chronicles is the closest that most of us will come to creating such a wonderful tree house. If that dream has been part of your life, you must read this book. I was especially thrilled with the parts about creating the secret, retractable stairs. I felt like I was 8 again back in that little house, spying on the kids across the street through a little peephole that I had drilled in the wall.

The book is also good for practical dreamers. You'll be able to see many exciting ways to make an amazing tree house. If you do, I suggest that you skip all of the mountain climbing gear that the author and illustrator used. A scaffolding would be much more practical . . . if ever so much less exciting.

Ultimately, your biggest gain from this book is to realize that your little boy or little girl dreams can be achieved today . . . if you simply open yourself up to living them.

This is the most fun I expect to have reading a book this year. You owe it to yourself to get a copy, and give other copies to those you love . . . so they'll live their dreams, too!

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