day 3284: (close to) camping in the trees.

day 3284: (close to) camping in the trees.

we still have some work to finish the deck on The World’s Most Awesome Treehouse(s) and putting up guard rails but that’s not going to stop us from pitching tent to get a feel for camping in the trees, which is what we’ll do while i start putting together the actual treehouse that’s going on the deck. of course, no actual camping will happen until we get guard rails up. it’s a little hard to tell, but there’s about 9 feet between the trees which is plenty of space to put a tent that sleeps three and dog very comfortably.

pitching the tent also gives me a better feel for how much space we’ll need around to treehouse to sit comfortably on the deck and navigate around the 360 degree wrap-around porch. one design decision yet to be made, do i build the treehouse between the two trees or around the two trees?

i’m taking the picture from the flat section of our roof above our mudroom that will someday, maybe, have a zip line running to the treehouse. there’s a door in odin’s room out to the roof so it’s perfect for quick zip lining over to the treehouse.

on getting sent back to first grade.

on getting sent back to first grade. I.

after the fire at organic valley headquarters, we’re still figuring out where the displaced folks are going to end up for an extended period of time. for a short period of time some of us ended up in odin’s waldorf school, which also used to be a the public school so it has the “feel” of both worlds. in some ways, it feels just like a school i might have gone to when i was a was a kid. and in other ways it feels like a waldorf school. they sure know how to put a chalkboard to good use!

on getting sent back to first grade. II.

yes, i’ve literally been sent to first grade room. odin never tires of saying, “ok bye! have fun in first grade!” when i leave the house in the morning. all things considered, it’s not bad at all expecially considering it’s only a half a block from my house. and, on occasion, i get to sit in the hallway on linoleum floors and almost feel like i could be back in grade school while listening to listening to violin practice.

on getting sent back to first grade. III.

but it’s only temporary, they have to get the school ready for the kids coming back in the fall and we have to find more appropriate digs while the headquarters gets rebuilt.

day 3278: A Brief Break in The Neverending Hockey Season.

day 3278: A Brief Break in The Neverending Hockey Season.

a mere thirteen weeks after The Beginning of The Neverending Hockey Season and twice a week trips to the big city so odin could practice with the heat hockey club, he had his last practice for four weeks off before starting up again in a league that will run right up to when the regular season starts.

he loves it so i guess that makes standing around hockey arenas all year round worthwhile 🙂

( odin’s wearing the red socks near the center of the photo. )

day 3277: sitting on the treehouse deck discussing the merits of vanilla as a gnat repellent.

day 3277: sitting on the treehouse deck discussing the merits of vanilla as a gnat repellent.

it’s been a wet spring and early summer in southwest wisconsin which means the gnats have been extra bothersome. so we were sitting up in the treehouse deck attempting to enjoy the view while swatting gnats.

they were so annoying that we decided to try some organic vanilla extract which we heard was an effective gnat repellent.

it seemed too good to be true. can you really repel gnats, avoid nasty bug sprays, and smell like a freshly baked cookie all at the same time?

sure enough, you can – just put a dab behind your ears and no gnats! the anti-gnat effect doesn’t last for too long – maybe 30 to 40 minutes per application – but it’s a great smelling short-term solution.

day 3277: (finally!) building and enjoying the deck on The World’s Most Awesome Treehouse(s)!

day 3277: (finally!) building and enjoying the deck on The World’s Most Awesome Treehouse(s)! I.

after a 7 week delay, since i was able to pick up the black locust decking ( undeterred by horrid weather ) for The World’s Most Awesome Treehouse(s), it was time to get building again!

and nobody is always more willing to help than odin. he helped carry and hoist all thirty two of the fourteen foot very heavy boards from the garage to the ladder without a single complaint.

of course, the promise of finally getting to stand on the deck is a great motivator 🙂

day 3277: (finally!) building and enjoying the deck on The World’s Most Awesome Treehouse(s)! II.

two hours later after carrying board after board and waiting for me to straighten them on the deck, odin finally got to stand on the deck! a mere two years after hatching the original very crazy plan. then, i just had an idea with absolutely no idea how would build a deck around two trees 12 feet up in the air. it’s a really awesome feeling to finally get to stand up there with odin and feel the trees gently swaying and listen to the birds chirping.

it took awhile to figure it all out, but having fun building it with odin is the real goal so it really doesn’t matter how long it takes us.

day 3277: (finally!) building and enjoying the deck on The World’s Most Awesome Treehouse(s)! III.

while futzing with the spacing between the planks i decided to lay under the deck to get a look at how it looked and it occurred to me that i’m really, really, really glad i decided to hang the supports on solid lengths of 3/4″ threaded rod that go all the way through the tree. there’s a lot of wood up there and the black locust is astonishingly heavy. there might be over 3,000 pounds of materials up there that i want to stay up there. the good news is that it seems very solid and yet it’s still designed to move with the trees.

day 3277: (finally!) building and enjoying the deck on The World’s Most Awesome Treehouse(s)! IV.

of course, after all that hard work we have to drag up some camp chairs and talk about how awesome it’s going to be to pitch a tent on the deck after the posts and guard rails go up. we’ll get some camping in while we design the treehouse that’s going to get built on top of the deck!

day 3277: (finally!) building and enjoying the deck on The World’s Most Awesome Treehouse(s)! V.

how do you make being with your son up in the trees any more awesome? run an electrical cord up there and start using POWER TOOLS!

this just keeps getting better and better. stay tuned…

all the pretty horses near odin avenue.

all the pretty horses near odin avenue.

driving back from hockey practice in la crosse with odin, south down county road pc ( aka “rollercoaster road” ) like we’ve done hundreds of times, we call out “hallo odin avenue!” as we pass by and then we pass by these three horses grazing near the road. big and beautiful with manes blowing in the breeze and a hint of blue sky and almost too green pasture. if you look off in the distance you can see the organic valley wind turbines at our distribution center in cashton, wisconsin.


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i immediately get that feeling like i have to take a picture. if i don’t it will bug me for the rest of the day. but i don’t actually want to take the time to stop. the photographer in me argues with the part of me that just wants to get home and make dinner but i only make it a quarter mile past the horses before i hit the brakes.

odin looks up. “what are you doing?”

“can you grab my camera?”

odin looks around, “what’d you see?”

“horses.”

“oh, cool. let go take a look.”

for him this is absolutely, completely normal if even a bit mundane.

and as it happens, i couldn’t get all three horses to look up all at the same time and the wind had died down so their manes weren’t blowing, so it didn’t quite turn out like the shot i saw while i was driving by, but that’s the way it goes.

the shot almost didn’t get away 🙂