Definitely Starting To Feel Like a Treehouse Now

We started putting the decking onto the platform yesterday, but it took us a while to get the hang of the square-drive screws, which failed to deliver on their "no pre-drilling required" promise. Today we were ready with the right bits & drivers & spacers & everything -- and once we had enough planks in place to kneel on the platform and bear down on the drill (as opposed to standing on the top step of a wobbly and not-quite-tall-enough ladder), things cranked along pretty fast.

Then again, once you're up on the platform, there's always the option of putting the drill down and simply enjoying the fact that you're sitting high up in a huge oak tree on a beautiful afternoon. You can even lie on your back and look up at the sky through the branches -- the view is pretty similar to what you can see from the ground, but it turns out the restorative effects are multiplied when you're eight feet up.

We continue to discover both minor and major lacunae in the Igguldens' treehouse instructions -- mostly the hard way. (If there isn't a Dangerous Book for Boys Treehouse Support Group out there by now, we may just have to start one.) Our respect and admiration for people who actually know what they're doing with power tools grows deeper by the day. In particular, we have relied heavily upon expert advice from Jeff and Jenny, both of whom have taken anxious tree-top calls, dropped by to offer encouragement and assistance at critical junctures, and managed not to laugh too hard at our more ridiculous blunders. Gracias, amigos.

A case in point: Jeff gave us step-by-step instructions for fitting the decking around the tree trunk. The process reminded us a bit of that strange device Thomas Jefferson invented to make copies of his letters as he wrote them... and it worked great!

By day's end it was pretty clear to everyone that this treehouse is going. To be. Awesome.