Spring On High

In April the local schools take their spring break. Thus for one week last month the kids had some free time on their hands, we had some warm, dry weather, and my treehouse needed work. It was a perfect syzygy that led to some significant progress on Phase II. On Monday of the week I had Conner and Nolan over. Here's a shot from across the creek:

Here is Conner's foot (he's screwing in the next plank) and Nolan's orange shirt (he's holding up the tree by leaning against it):

A view from the top of the ladder on Phase II:

Nolan still faithfully minding that tree:

On Friday I had planned to have three young gentlemen over, but schedules changed so it was Josiah and I going it alone. I always knew that Josiah had endless energy, but I also discovered he has no fear of heights:

With his energetic help, we put in three new cross-joists that day:

Treehouses are for young kids and the older kids, too. When Megan came to visit over Resurrection weekend, I put her to work up there. It turns out that those chic jeans and snazzy Manhattan boots can stand up to the wear of hemlock and power drills:

We set a few more cross-joists on both sides of Phase II:

It turns out that being a poli-sci Master's student does not preclude proficiency with a DeWalt 14V cordless drill. Thank God for the liberal education:

I told Megan that if her poli-sci degree fell through, she could get a job as a riveter on a Manhattan skyscraper crew:

She told me that would be her mother's worst nightmare. So in the interest of letting her mom know how far she's come, I got a shot of Megan reaching out over dead space, twelve feet off the ground:

This one's for you, Ginny!

Thanks to all my willing helpers on Phase II: Conner, Nolan, Josiah, and Megan. I look forward to our next project days together.

~ emrys