Blanket Forts and Treehouses

Making forts was a big deal. Mike and I had a total of two tree houses and we built make-shift pillbox forts to supplement the times the tree houses would not suffice. Richard visited almost every summer and the tree houses were not big enough to hold three growing boys and all their sleeping gear along with store-bought goodies.

Around that same year, the new and bigger Saveways Market opened in Salmon. They sold donuts in their new bakery for $.10 apiece. Those glazed morsels were delectable and we could not eat enough of them. The first week the store was open, they were giving those donuts away for free. I remember eating them until I couldn't bear stuffing another in my mouth. Finally the lady behind the counter told us to get lost and stop eating all the free donuts.

Richard, Mike and I bought milk and those fun sized sugary cereal packages for food rations in our fort. Mom was totally against sugared cereal, so when we ate that, it was like the forbidden fruit. Graham Crackers were also a favorite. We stored them out of sight so the girls wouldn't notice our cache and steal them. Sleeping in our fort was exciting and we got in our share of trouble those nights as we spent time knocking on neighbor’s doors in the middle of the night and then running back to the shelter of our fort. It never occurred to us that we were being jerks for pissing off our neighbors like that. It was just great fun.

Another exciting activity was when we prank-called folks on the phone. This was long before technology included caller ID's. We randomly called a number in the phone book. When someone answered, we made-up a wisecrack statement.

“Is your refrigerator running?”

“Yes.”

“Go catch it before it gets completely away!”

Sometimes we couldn't resist calling Mary Bills at Saveways Market. She always worked right next to the courtesy phone and we could count on her answering the phone every time we called.

“Hello, do you have Prince Albert (tobacco) in the can?”

“Yes, we do.”

“Let him out, he’s suffocating!”

We laughed and laughed after making a prank call. It was part of our repertoire of comedy and we thought we were hilarious. This was also the time that a full-time operator worked for the Bell Phone Company. One could just dial “0” and get the operator at any time of the day or night. Maryanne worked as an operator. One of my junior high friends had a crush on her, so we would occasionally go to the phone center and visit her on school lunch break. Anyway, it was great to call the operator when there was nothing else to do. She would give you the correct time or answer random questions of any kind.

The summer when I was eight years-old, Mike and I constantly badgered dad to build us a tree house high up in the tree next to our house. So he did. It took some serious climbing ability and a lot of bravery to reach our newest tree fort. After dad was finished, I climbed up to play. Dad was already there and instructed me on how to climb up without falling and dying.

Just before reaching the floor of the structure, you had to reach way out in a near prone position and make a little hop to propel yourself onto the floor. Try that when the wind was blowing and the tree was swaying in all directions and it was, indeed, like riding a kite blowing in the wind. Death was just around the corner every time Mike and I played in our new tree house. It’s possible that dad was trying to activate our life insurance policies. I’m not sure. We managed to stay alive, however.

During the heat of summer when the tree was fully covered in leaves, I could hide in the tree house and observe all the activities of everyone on our street. Being able to remain incognito throughout much of the day was thrilling. The downside was, mom knew where the tree house was located and if I could not be found to do chores, that is where she would look first. However, if I laid completely flat on the floor of the tree house, there's no way she could see me.