It was the mid-sixties, and my parents had bought a home in the brand new suburb of Saint-Leonard. Dense green pines, cedar, and sugar maples sprawled beyond everyone's unfenced backyard for miles. All of us kids in the neighborhood... were in heaven.
We reigned over that forest kingdom.
A half-dozen of us had trudged through shrubs, briars, and small woody plants for half an hour when we found it. That huge 8-story pine tree was too difficult for all of us to try to climb at once. Dougie was twelve and ruled that the "oldest" should go first. And so we began. Branch by sticky limb by cluster of needles... we swung, clambered, and monkeyed our way up.
I was somewhere in the middle, but high enough that I could see above all the other trees. In fact, I could make out the silhouette of my house. "Wow!"
Back in those days, the knapsack, water bottles, and juice boxes hadn't yet become a thing. Once we got up there... there wasn't much to do, except try and sway the branches to scare the shit out of the person below, or above you. So that's what we did — for about 15 minutes — until Dougie had had enough and began to climb back down. We all followed.
Except for my stupid little brother. HE was stuck. I don't even know how he got up so high, but he couldn't get down.
No amount of encouragement, suggestions, or threats worked. He wouldn't or couldn't budge. And we all tried.
Dougie, the asshole that he was, couldn't care less and eventually led the pack back home. It was up to me. And the only thing I could think of was to run and get help.
I was out of breath by the time I'd reached the screen door at the back of my house. I rushed through the kitchen and towards my parents' bedroom, where I heard a lot of violent rhythmic thudding and thumping.
I pushed the door open.
There were my parents, tangled in a chaotic wrestling match. Mom's ankles were pinned behind her ears. Dad was... well? I didn't really know what he was doing.
They both let out a yell. And Dad used an expression... I had never heard before.
"Get the FUCK outta here!"
By the time things had settled down and my parents had come out from their scuffle, and I had tried to explain things...
There was my little brother at the back door, looking sheepish... and apologetic, as he tried to describe how he'd come down. But he didn't quite know how.
I would have explained to him what I had seen...
...but I didn't quite know how either.
... someone else's parents...
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10 comments
Very COOL!!
That tree was like a skyscraper to us.?
@Paulxx001
HOT!!
I wish there were still neighborhoods like that in our world
Hugs!!
When I visit today... it'S a myth.🤗
That took me straight back to the, be home before dark era.
I once overheard my parents and learned, very abruptly, that some doors exist for a reason. There’s no graceful recovery from that moment… just a quiet retreat and a lifelong commitment to knocking.
I was a bit of a tomboy, though, so most of my energy went into climbing anything tall enough to feel like a conquest. Trees, rooftops, questionable structures...if it looked like a bad idea, I was already halfway up. The higher I got, the better the view…and the bigger the story later.
So true, about the "before dark" era.
Also true about climbing stuff.😂
When they put up the first apartment building here, things got sketchy. I mean, there were no safety rails on those ten-story balconies. And we lost a few good boys playing "hide and seek."
Bobby never showed up for supper: they had to send out a search party.😲
@Paulxx001
Umm...that definitely raises the stakes on childhood mischief. That's less hide-and-seek and more survival training. Different times, seriously.
It’s wild how we all just accepted that level of danger like it was part of growing up.
I stuck mostly to trees, thankfully. High enough to feel daring, but still within the realm of “probably won’t make the evening news.” Though I’ll admit… part of the thrill was knowing I probably shouldn’t be up there in the first place.
Seems like we both had a bit of a taste for danger early on.
@4playlist_Sugswt
Survival is the right word. lol...
And we turned out OK... mostly.😂
We had one (slightly older) girl in our crew, and she climbed and explored with the best of us. She also set up a pro bono medical practise in her parents' basement.
She knew much more about anatomy than I did and was willing to share her knowledge.😲
@Paulxx001
I probably would’ve gotten along with her. I had the climbing part down, at least, lol.
Sounds like your crew had a pretty well-rounded upbringing...danger, adventure, and apparently extracurricular studies. No wonder you all turned out "mostly” okay.
I did walk in once, but they were under the covers. My dad just yelled to get out. Not quite the exciting tale as yours.
I have several visuals in my head from my time as a child in that house that I would pay good money to have removed. Had I seen what you described, I might have never recovered to lead a normal life...if that is what I'm doing. Lol
I was too young at the time to figure things out.
A few years later, a woman of eleven (several years older than me) decided she needed a patient for the burgeoning medical practise in her parents' basement. Now THAT opened my eyes.😂
Your story reminded me of an incident from around the same time, in the mid-1960s. We were living in the Guayana region of Venezuela, and I had one of those simple little tricycles with the pedals attached directly to the front wheel. My friends and I used to spend hours riding around the dirt roads near our house.
One day I spotted what I thought was a stick lying across the road and, without giving it a second thought, decided to ride straight over it. It was only as I was passing over it that I realized it wasn't a stick at all… it was a snake!, stretched out on the warm asphalt, soaking up the sun! The poor thing didn't survive being run over by all three wheels, which sliced it into rather unfortunate little sections...
When I got home, my mother came to see the poor beast and told me it had been a dangerously venomous snake. I also risked my life, as it seems.
So, for the next couple of days, I was something of a local heroine among my friends... completely by accident!
Wow! OK... THAT was close. You were lucky!
Thankfully, it is too cold up here for any of THOSE to want to come and visit.😂
@Paulxx001 snakes and spiders can be terrifying
Anyway, the one I sliced, or smashed, was probably 2 feet long maximum... not an anaconda!
I never walked in on my parents, but they might have had a lock on their door. Which might have been bought after someone walked in on them.
Hmmm...
My parents were like ninjas.
I donT think they ever had sex.😲
@Paulxx001 They did ... at least twice.
That forest thrived for years before developers thought it would be a good idea to raze it and put up homes.
And then there were NEW things to explore. We'd scale unfenced construction sites, step across cement thresholds, and clamber up two-story platform-framed houses.
Oh, what a grand time. And surprisingly, the only things we'd occasionally run into were discarded saw blades and exposed nails. Back then, our parents didn't care what we did — as long as we were home for supper.😲
OMG, I totally dig this song, it takes me waaaay. back, lol.