I drove down from Chicago yesterday, about a 7 hour drive.  I had planned to fly, but once he got all of his tools and clothes packed for the 2 week trip, he had about 250 pounds of luggage, tool boxes and power tool cases and six items, so he decided to drive.

 

Henry is a great photographer but not so handy with a hammer or a saw. In fact, he told me he did not have any tools that he knew about.  I did find a hand saw and a carpenter’s square in a closet in the basement, apparently untouched by human hands since 1981 when he and Lorna moved into this house.

 

The first day was glorious. The weather was beautiful.  I spent most of the morning at the site of the tree we have picked. It is gorgeous old red oak, eight feet and eight inches in circumference at the base, about 3 feet 4 inches in diameter.  The first bifurcation is a eleven feet 6 inches; it divides into two giant branches perfectly situated to nest a tree house between them.

 

The birds sang all morning as I worked, climbed the ladder to make measurements and made sketches (see photo page).  Around noon I took off for Fulton, a town of about 14,000 10 minutes away and found both a Westlakes Ace Hardware store and an Orchlens farm supply store. I was in heaven.  I needed a laser level, a 3/8 portable drill with a lot of power (got one with 1,800 watts), miscellaneous lag screws, pulleys, ropes and other paraphernalia for building way above ground in the middle of the woods.  Oh yes, this is another reason for building a tree house.  I get to go to hardware stores and play with tools, eyebolts, special bits for drilling big, deep holes in tree branches.

 

Later this afternoon I cut the first board (see photo on home page). This evening Henry, Lorna and I had dinner on their deck and relaxed.  Tune in for tomorrow’s adventure!