PiCKLEBERRYPOP

The older I get, the more sentimental I get about certain things. When I was a child, we had two huge catalpa trees that grew in our front yard. We spent our childhood under these trees. We used to sword fight with the beans that grew on them. My grandkids still do that. I love the memories that these trees spark in me.

As long as I can remember, we had rope swings in our trees. Everyone that was brave enough climbed the tree. The worst part of the climb was when you had to step around a branch to sit on the “launch pad”. Someone on the ground would throw the swing up to them. The person in the tree would carefully slide the swing behind their knees…and then they’d sit there and contemplate their untimely death *grin* My brother and his friends basically lived in that tree during the summers. All of the neighborhood kids would come over to see if they had the nerves it took to climb the tree and jump out. Some of those that intended to jump sat up there for over an hour. Those of us on the ground would shout encouragement, and even do the countdown to get them to jump. But sometimes that just wasn’t enough. Once in a while, the jumper lost their nerve after sitting up there for a LONG time and climbed down.

Although I never jumped out of the tree (yes, I’m a chicken), I loved swinging, seeing if I could propel myself as high as the launch pad. As you can see from the photo, we also spent a lot of time kicking ourselves off of the side of the tree. The bark is wearing, the tree is aging and leaning. I hope I am gone long before it is 🙂

As we got older, anyone that intended to join our family by marriage had to jump out of that tree on the swing. Lol, I understand it’s quite unnerving. Since I was born into the family, I never HAD to do it 😛 Here’s a photo of my “future” hubby proving that he was worthy to join the family. He barely got into position on the launch pad before he jumped. I guess he was anxious to prove his worthiness, or he didn’t want to lose his nerve *grin*

Compare the calm, cool and collected look on my hubby’s face to the one below of my daughter, She might have been completely terrified as she jumped out of the tree. Lol, that photo still makes me laugh. Such good memories of time spent sitting below the trees, watching other people do something that I wasn’t quite insane enough to try *grin* But seriously, EVERYONE bragged after they jumped the first time. It was like a badge of honor to be brave enough to jump out of our tree!

Now I live across the street from my childhood home, and I look out my window and see the trees. It brings back a flood of memories. My favorite fact about these trees that I love so much is that they bloom every year for Father’s Day. This year is especially poignant since my dad passed away in February. I will watch the catalpas fondly in the coming weeks and remember my dad as they blossom just for him.

I hope this post helps you think back of some of your own childhood memories…and hey, if those memories involve a tree, that’s even better. Maybe I should make a layout about this, huh? 🙂 Have a Happy LOVE A TREE DAY!