Relax like a child that builds tree houses and blows bubbles


We sat out on the back steps one Sunday afternoon, the boys and I, and blew beautiful iridescent wobbly soap bubbles. George whooped with delight, his turquoise-blue eyes sparkling, jumping and pointing and squealing, ‘More, Mummy – more!’

Aaron, older, serious-eyed, solemnly practised his bubble-blowing over and over till he made a simply enormous one, which floated up and up, almost over the top of the crepe myrtle tree.

Where has all the time gone? It’s true what people say when you have babies – enjoy them, because they’re only little for such a short time. Bubbleblowing on the back steps is one of many small treasured memories that I have of my sons – and I call it to mind every so often when I’m not sure I’m going to survive their adolescence.

Bubble-blowing is also a soothing, playful, whimsical thing to do whenever you feel like it, irrespective of how old you are. There is no point to it – which is the whole point! Keep an inexpensive bubble pipe in your kitchen drawer; dip it in a dish of soapy water and blow gently. Imagine all your cares floating away.

‘I shall live with Tink,’ declared Peter, ‘in a little house we built for Wendy’. By building a tree house, you will be sharing Peter Pan’s time-honoured secret escape. Tree houses have been used by generations of children, as well as by many famous people.

Tarzan of the Apes, the Swiss Family Robinson and Winnie the Pooh all lived in tree houses, but did you know that Winston Churchill built one where he wrote some of his famous speeches, and that Queen Victoria also had one where she used to retreat from the pressures of her duties?

If you’ve never had a place for private thoughts when you were growing up, now is the time to do something about it. Even a single board across a low fork in a sturdy tree fits the fond description ‘my tree house’, and it’s remarkable how much clearer and calmer things seem when you’re looking up at the sky through a leafy roof.

If you are lucky enough to have a variety of trees to choose from, select one with low, spreading boughs. This will be easiest to reach when securing a flat, firm and steady platform or floor. Avoid trees such as horse chestnuts or eucalypts, as their limbs tend to snap off under pressure and, naturally, give poisonous shrubs and trees like oleanders a wide berth.

The easiest tree house to build is a triangular platform that is secured to the trunk and to two limbs of the tree, resting like a raft on the remaining spreading branches. Clamber up and get away from it all. Sketch, read, think, daydream, eat or just doze for a few minutes … or hours.

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This article was sent to us by: Barbara Powell at 06112010

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