The Tree...

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree...

When determining if we should retire in Kentucky we made a tourist stop at Ft. Harrod in Harrodsburg, Kentucky. The surprise item at the historic sight is the Osage Orange Tree. It is an enormous tree that split at some point. The split didn't kill the tree. The one half laid on the ground and took root and the other half sent out long branches that hang to the ground. Places on its branches have been rubbed smooth by years of climbing by little children. We knew, as soon as we saw it, that, if we moved to Kentucky, this was a must see for our grandmonsters.

Two of our Camp Christensen's we have taken the grandmonsters there. I found it interesting in the last few months I have heard comments from several of our grandmonsters that they would like to go back to the Osage Orange Tree. Yesterday we made that happen for Hayden and Bailey.

We took them when Hayden was about 2 years old and Bailey was an infant. Bailey remembers nothing. Hayden kept that tree memory in his brain and really wanted to climb. This interest was heightened by learning about Spiderman. Hayden needed to climb.

Andie was bringing the Mini's over to visit with us this weekend while Gramma Bonnie is visiting. We determined we would meet the Marx contingent at Ft. Harrod on Friday for lunch and a tree climb. We thought we would tour Ft. Harrod also. We picked up a KFC lunch and brought it to the park. Andie and the Mini's were there.

The thing I didn't even think to factor in was school field trips. In my visualization of the day I pictured Hayden and Bailey enjoying the tree by themselves. Now that may seem selfish but it was just me thinking about my grandmonsters. A few kids would not have been a big things but 50+ kids were definitely not in my visualization. The fun thing was it didn't make a bit of difference to Hayden and Bailey. They were quite ready to move over the branches of that tree with no other kids or 50+ kids.

We had a great afternoon. They played for two full hours in the tree. We never made it to the fort, or Lincoln's parents wedding cabin or the little cemetery. We just enjoyed the big old tree and every inch of climbable space it had to offer.

Before we left Andie made sure we replicated a picture we took when we had Hayden and Bailey there 5 years ago. Well, we are close to the same positions but we have grown a tad.

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as that Osage Orange Tree.

My advice...take time to climb a tree.