Bang bang! Those
familiar sounds of spring!
It started in
middle school. Trouble & Trouble and their friends from the villages around
here picked up some left over planks and nails and built a platform way up in
the trees. Then walls came up of course, a roof, and hey, Kojan – the Treehouse was born! Koja means hideaway, kind of, and it really was the perfect
hide away for boys in their early teens. It’s located in a grove not too far
from the house, but enough tucked away for privacy. The parents kept in the
house or the front yard leaving them to their adventures, but also made them
feel safe.
My sons have a
wonderful talent. They make friends with the sweetest, most adventurous and
craziest people. And they stay friends. Through thick and thin. So the original
group of about ten loud boys is still around. And as they moved on and new
friends entered their lives they’ve been added in the Koja project. As they
have added trees! What to start with was a studio connecting four-five trees is
today more of a complex compound 15 feet above ground involving about thirty
firs and pine trees!
You might be
asking: how old are they now? Well, that’s a legitimate question. Trouble &
Trouble just turned 27 and 25. The next question might be: aren’t they too old
for building on a treehouse? The answer is no.
My sons have this
ability that earlier on to a mother could be pretty annoying, but has turned
quite charming the older they get. They are carrying their child contained
within themselves. They still love playing the way children do, and there
hasn’t even been a period over time when they in embarrassment did hide that
away. I am not sure if the reason for this is that they didn’t have an enough
playful childhood, are clinging to a lost childhood or simply had a childhood
so safe and happy-go-luck that they are still enjoying it!
Either way, Kojan
still is an adventure. All year around. Even when it’s five feet of snow (1,5
meter) and -15°F (-26°C) cold
outside. Some years ago they installed an army stove in the center of the tree
house so they are keeping themselves warm even in the middle of the winter. And
I don’t know if hot dogs ever taste better than up in the Koja!
The treehouse is
now more of an open source project. The Facebook group has 77 members, and they
are seriously thinking about crowd funding to improve the economy, a thirty
some tree compound is a pretty costly business, especially keeping it winter
proof. And of course, Kojan is a story around here. Little kids want to sneak
up there (but are not allowed except supervised by the senior Koja members!)
and sometimes families come by to watch a legend still in progress.
Bang bang! Yes,
it’s spring! I hear the cars parking outside my house, doors opening and
closing, happy grown up kids laughing their way to the grove. And then the
sound of the work starting. Bang bang! Last summer they extended the center
room for grandma Gerd’s big left over leather couch to fit in and inserted a
panorama window. I was actually asked to be the interior designer, very honored! This spring they already improved one of the suspension
bridges between the platforms and added a new one connecting the Dance platform
with the roof of the center room, which will be added on with a second floor.
The plans are endless, creative, and for parents less tolerant than me when it
comes to heights, slightly dangerous.
I am the mother of
two sons, but I am blessed with so many more children. Growing up, our place
was the hang out for all the boys in the villages around here. There were times
when I felt I was running some kind of bed and breakfast and I must admit, most
of the time it was pretty exhausting and I just wanted to throw them all out.
Oh how I enjoyed the few moments all alone in a quite house! Oh how I wished
for more of that! Little did I know that I would come to a point in life when
my house would be all empty except for me day after day, month after month
lying on the couch listening to the seldom interrupted silence. Be careful what
you wish for…
So, when I hear
those springtime sounds of hammers and nails I smile. And I love when they
include me in their visit, coming running up my slate path giving me those big
bear hugs. And of course, now there are girls in the project too, so finally I
also have a bunch of lovely daughters!
Friday Trouble 1
turned 27. The birthday party happened in Kojan of course. And as for a present
they built a long time planned and much looked forward to cableway from the
center of the compound up in the trees all the way down to the field! It’s
about a 160 feet (50 meter) ride for anyone who has the gut to do it! Take a
look here:
I very rarely get
to see Kojan other than from the ground; it’s most of the time impossible for
me to get myself up there. Last summer though I had two good days when I could
and it was so great after a lot of years sitting in the center room with my
kids, all warm from the stove reading the guestbook. I don’t have a lot of
hopes for an encore this summer but I am dreaming of course. And I am so happy
and grateful to be allowed being a part of all my children’s playfulness,
unlimited creativity and determination. Adam, Ludvig, Erik, Martin, Lars,
Ingrid, Vilma, AnnSofie, Ida, Sarah, Andreas, Fredrik and everyone else who
shows up here off and on; I love you guys, I think this is the pay off for my
bed and breakfast days, and being your landlord is pure and simple joy!
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