Secret Fort

Once, a long time back, I was a wild mountain child who roamed the hills of the Sierra Nevada Foothills. My friends and I would ride our bikes up in the mountains on old railroad tracks from the California Goldrush. We searched (and often found) remains of old mining cabins, and sometimes, to our parents fear and horror, abandoned mine shafts. But best of all we had secret forts made of large old oak trees.

There was one oak tree that created a complete canopy that hid right above our little town. On Saturday mornings my neighbor and best friend would lightly knock on my bedroom window, I would quietly climb out of it, and we would ride our bikes to the doughnut shop. With doughnuts carefully packaged we then clandestinely made way for our secret fort above our quite little town. There we spent our mornings telling secrets and spying on unknown townspeople.

There was another that my sister found and named Crystal Fort. It was a large old oak with swinging branches that you could easily climb and lounge on. It was a ways to hike to-up, up and up the yellow grassed hills and through a small forest. But when you got to the top there it was in a field by itself surrounded by huge crystal kortz rocks-hence the name.

Then there was our "play house" oak, another large old tree that made a complete canopy. My neighbor's older sister took pruning sheers and made a secret door and then cutout different rooms. We brought chair pads to tie on the low branches to make couches, we brought a little wooden table and play dishes to make our kitchen, we made beds for our baby dolls using the ubiquitous yellow grass and the hollows of the trees.

I now live in the suburbs of a city, and although the city life has much to offer there are somethings little L will miss. So this past weekend when I was weeding the flower beds and noticed that behind our bamboo bush it made a complete canopy a smile crept to my face. A suburban secret fort for my girl!  And although it isn't the same as standing in the secret hidden grander of an oak, it had that same peaceful feeling.

I grabbed a chair (really need to get a kids size chair for this place), and made a table with a tub, and got a plastic frog-all forts need a guard. I found L and whispered "Linnea, I found a secret fort for you." She squealed in delight the moment she saw it-there is no need to tell even someone as young as 2 1/2 what to do in a secret fort. While she enjoyed the wonders of being partially hidden I made a "secret" entrance into her secret fort.

Wonder and Awe

"I am happy, Mommy."

Lots of squeals of delight


































And then she discovers froggy, and I tell her it will be Secret Forts Guard Froggy
L decides then that they need to have a discussion.

 

I think she was telling Froggy he was going to do a good job as a guard.

 And then hugs of thanks.

While the this discussion was going I got Secret Fort's secret entrance together.
You have to go through the tunnel.

And over the wall.

And down the slide to get to Secret Fort.

L later made me very proud and with her own imagination decided that Secret Fort needed hidden treasures.

The hidden Secret Fort-Can you find it?