The Treetop Swayers Club

Sometimes it amazes me that we survived childhood as well as we did! What with running the logs in a southeaster, playing baseball with a croquet ball (they float when you homer into the ‘chuck by the way!) and the general mayhem we got up to from time to time.

Sure there were a few injuries, Pam breaking her collar bone while playing ‘witches’, JL dropping a trailer hitch on his ankle and breaking it, but mostly it was flattened noses and the usual scrapes and bruises. It is somewhat ironic that my worst ‘sports injury’ came in a baseball game 1000 miles from Oyster Bay (stress fracture – lower back) – while pitching for pete’s sake!

The Oyster Bay community was carved out of the rainforest – literally! Hugging the Island Highway (now 19A – the secondary highway) you could literally walk 50 feet west of the highway and be deep into the forest. And as much as the seashore was our playground so was the deep woods.

And what a playground it was. The deep carpet of fir and pine needles a great landing pad or simply a good place for a quiet snooze or to read a book away from the hubbub. Although there were ‘wild’ animals aplenty on the Island, I never came face to face with a bear or cougar during all the time running up and down the paths.

Today that is a different story as rampant development has shrunk their habitat and brought them into much closer contact to humans. Where once the communities along the highway were seperated by long stretches of forest, 19A is now one endless row of condos and strip malls from just north of Our House to downtown Campbell River – 11 miles away! No wonder it is getting difficult for the bears to meander to their fave spots on the beach!

But I digress…

One of our favourite games in the woods was climbing trees. Who wouldn’t with 200 foot Douglas Firs towering overhead? And believe me the view from 80 or 90 feet up can be spectacular! Of course Mom’s being Mom’s no mention of tree climbing was ever had around the dinner table. The Treetop Swayers Club became a sort of secret society, boys only (sisters tended to tattle…).

The hardest part of climbing a tree is not climbing up, but rather climbing down. On the way up you are too concerned with the next handhold, often with your cheek pressed against the rough bark. On the way down, though, you not only had to feel for the next foothold but look down. And it was the looking down bit that could bring you to grief, a wee spell of vertigo enough to send you bouncing off branches into the needle bed below! Also after a rain the limbs could be a bit slippery so a strong grip was necessary at all time.

There was another aspect of the Treetop Swayers Club, one that NEVER was spoken about away from the forest! Amongst the massive Douglas Firs were smaller, younger and more ‘lively’ trees jammed together. These trees were perfect for climbing to the top of then swinging (swaying) back and forth like a teeter-totter. The trick with these trees was listening for the first sound of cracking, guaranteed to send you plummetting 20 or 30 feet to the ground instead of a pleasant swing back in the direction from whence you came. We came close a few times, especially the heavier club members, but can now attest that no animals or humans were injured during the endeavours!

And to think I broke my back pitching in a baseball game…

Cheers,
Mark

(Forest pic by jplenio at pixabay.com)