Eventually, these random memories will find a more permanent home on another blog that my best friend Aaron, and I are working on (well, supposed to be anyway)...
Did you have a clubhouse when you were a kid? Aaron and I built one in my back yard one summer (we also dug for dinosaur bones, and buried Gobots in the garden), and for some odd reason, I find myself thinking of it tonight. Here's what I remember...
A clubhouse to last for the ages. We were the first. The pioneers. The trail blazers. After we built The Hut (we didn't call it the clubhouse), everyone else and their dog decided that they needed some kind of clubhouse for themselves. And all theirs turned out better than ours. But there is something to be said for being the first.
We hauled scrap wood from all over the neighborhood (and beyond) and with our very limited understanding of construction, we built the ugliest hut ever. It looked like an outhouse built for two. Thinking back, I wish we would have cut a little moon in to the door -- for the limited time that we had a door. The thing I was most proud of was the fact that it had an upstairs. We had such big plans for The Hut that first summer -- we were going to sleep out there, and hold all of our clandestine meetings inside. Of course, like a lot of the big plans we had (Project Euphoria), it was more fun to plan than to actually carry out.
Sleeping in The Hut was really out of the question. First of all, it was only about six feet square. Secondly, it was so hot inside -- it was like solitary confinement in some Vietnamese POW camp.
The other great innovation was to build a sloping roof, with a little platform on the front -- just right for jumping off of, on to the trampoline (which was really it's primary purpose for most of it's existence).
I often wish I had a picture of the monstrosity.
What indelible memories do you have from your childhood?
7 comments:
That is fun! Our street used to dead end into a cornfield, so there was hardly any traffic on it. We would play in the street with the neighborhood kids all day long. We had this loft in our garage, and we would play war with the neighbor hood kids. My friend Jenny and I were the nurses and would fix up all of the guys after they got hurt in the war.
Too bad no one ever took a picture!
I remember someone building (well, framing and sheeting) a huge (probably 2500-3000 sq ft) house across the street and down in the trees and then they abandoned it. So my friends and I "moved" in. That huge house was our clubhouse for about three years until someone finally bought it. We didn't need TV or video games... we had the great outdoors to keep us entertained. My kids have no clue what being a kid is really all about.
Loved your description of your childhood hut. We had several different huts when we were kids, and yes they were "huts" not clubhouses. My favorite was a little copse of trees that was next to the railroad tracks. I wonder if my mom really knew that we were THAT close to the tracks. Anyway, there was a ditch that ran right next to the "hut" as well. And it would fill up and create a deep pond. Once we climbed in, and went home with bites all over our bodies. So much for a free swimming pool.
I always wanted a hut. Instead I had a swing set and I only imagined using its frame to turn it into something grand. BUT what I did have was three perfect trees for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd base in my back yard, so all the kids came over for kick ball. I'm happy to say I'm pretty hard core at kick ball. LOL
We attempted to build a two story clubhouse in my friends yard. We had a building that had burned down and we took all the salvageable wood, bricks, tile, etc from there. It never managed to get a roof on the second floor and I think my friends dad had to hire someone to get it out of their yard.
The HUT.....hahaha
haha
ha
hahaha
....that was great. Why were the other clubhouses better than ours? Maybe only because other idiots had their Dad buy real supplies and build it for them. We built it ourselves....with about 10,000 nails 1400 screws and one rusty piano hinge that held the door ....until it pulled out of the wood.
I wish we had a picture of that.....I guess that will just have to remain in our minds.
Great memory though.....thanks for that....now GET WITH IT AND START BLOGGING ON SIX DEAMON BAG!!!
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