Since so many of you have asked about the house in the Poconos, I decided to repost this from 2006.
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
THE TREE HOUSE
The Tree House
Do the words Tree House conjure up some image from your childhood, a place where you could go and hide out, hang out, do pretty much what you wanted with no thoughts about the rest of the world? Most people associate tree houses with carefree little boys, messy places, usually, I mean, who “cleans” up a tree house? Most tree houses are in trees but I remember a friend who built one high on the rocks back behind his “real” house in the mountains overlooking the trees below, accessible by a torturous little path up the cliff face. It looked out into and over the tree tops.
Well, some years ago, Anna named the apartment we have in White Haven the Tree House, partially because it is on tree level in the front but mostly because when we went up there, we would have to spend several days cleaning up after my father and brother who had spent time up there the previous fall. Well, my brother used to come up more often when his aunt lived next door. With the aunt gone, he no longer seems to have any interest in going there. And, my father just turned 89 in May, so his visits are fewer and fewer. Pennsylvania is a long way from Florida, especially when you are 89 years old and driving all alone. I live 300 miles away and 
dread the drive up!
Four generations of our family have lived in this house and my great-grandparents were not the first owners of the house. I remember coming here to visit my father’s parents as a very little child. My grandfather and I used to sit in a big old swing on the front porch during thunderstorms. It was on this porch that he taught me how to tell how far away the lightning was by counting the seconds from the light to the thunder. He taught me distances and directions this way, also. “Now that one hit over near Freeland. That is 8 miles away,” he’d say. And he’d point and tell me the compass directions for Freeland.
The house is divided in to the Big House and a small 2 room apartment. Well, it isn’t all that small, really, but it is 2 rooms and a bath, an entry way and the “cave,” a small storage room in the hillside where we keep the garden tools, snow shovels, coolers, camping equipment, etc. The temperature in the cave stays in the 50-60ยบ range year round. The living room doubles as a bedroom. The kitchen has a modern electric stove and an old wood or coal cooking stove that used to bake the best cookies! Years ago, Gram used to rent out the little apartment, then she moved into it in her old age when my step mother and brother were evacuated from Vietnam and they lived in the big house. That side has a lot of rooms. When my dad was young, it had 6 bedrooms. Now most of the bedrooms are storage rooms or empty. Dad took two of the rooms and made them into one very large master bedroom. We rent out the big side of the house – well, sorta. E is a tenant but also the caretaker. She keeps the grass cut in the summer and the snow shoveled or plowed in the winter and lets my brother know when something isn’t working right. 
You can enter the house from different levels as it is built into the mountainside. From the road, there are 6 steps up to the front yard where there is a porch with a door leading into the cellar. Personally, I would love to turn that into a little apartment – stone walls, etc. The cellar is divided into four rooms, one completely underground, one partly in the side of the hill. There is a set of steps up the side to the first floor level, the front porch, a flower garden, the patio, a sun porch and around back to the entrance to the apartment. 
We have a driveway at what amounts to a block away (as measured by the block across the street, but we don’t have any streets crossing on our side) and it goes up to a parking area level with the second floor. Therefore one has to go up or down a flight of steps to get in or out of the house no matter where you park. In my old age, this sucks! The old stone steps are narrow and steep. The property then continues on up the mountain where Bill cuts little paths up to the old stone walls and some great old boulders where I used to climb up and have my morning coffee and watch the sun come up over the mountain and the morning fog burn off the river which is probably about 500 feet away if measured in a straight line. However, in the mountains, there is no such thing as a straight line. There is a very steep bank leading down to the river owned by the state now and is part of the Lehigh Gorge State Park. I used to climb up and down that bank like a little mountain goat when I was a kid. It has its own tiny waterfalls, two of them, actually, from the creek that runs thru my lot across the street. The 
Lehigh River, even on the hottest day of the year is cold. Seriously cold. But, we used to swim in it as kids.
There used to be a house down there, a great little place, and the people had kids my age and they used to let us run all over their place. Their yard was our “beach!” Then the state wanted it for their Park. The people would not sell. This went on for a couple of years. The state tried to take the place by condemning it. The owners fought back. Then one night, it mysteriously burned to the ground. The fire Marshall could not determine the cause of the fire. Right. But I digress, again. So, of course, the people sold it – the land, that is, since the house was gone – even the garage somehow burned down, too. Amazing, 
huh? And now it is all weeds and rock as part of the naturalized park.
Anyway, here are some pictures of the house, the mountain side (if you live in the Rockies, please don’t laugh at my use of the word mountain here – that is what it is called) the steps, the view from up back. The plants that line the road for a few hundred feet are peonies my grandfather planted eons ago. Grandpop died in 1954. The trees around the house make it impossible to get a picture of the house in a way to show its size, etc. I will do my best to put the pictures on so you can tell what is what, but I haven’t figured out quite how to arrange things on blogger yet.
True, we had a couple other chores to take care of, but little time for just fun stuff. However, the rhododendron were in full bloom, and they were awesome. 
In many cases, they lined the roads, towered over us and there was no place to pull over to take a picture. 
Plus, it was actually dark under there! It seemed strange to have the flash pop up when it was a sunny day, so it made for a lot of contrast in the pictures. However, I knew I would not have a chance to get back for a cloudy day shot.
So, after the visit with Aunt Kay, I really needed some place soothing for a little moment or two. We went home, packed a sandwich, and headed down to the creek at Rockport. This creek empties in the Lehigh River.
In years past we have hiked up (or down) to a waterfall, but, not this year. The old bod just would not do it. So, I took a few shots of my favorite creek and some of the rhododenrdons near it. First, the creek - this year, with little water,
and a couple years ago with lots of water. The trickle and the torrent!
Higher up the creek, near the bridge... 
One of the things I also love to see is how fern and even trees grow out of the rocks.
Shoot! I have trouble getting fern to live in pots!
One morning we took a quick run down into Hickory Run. Another quickie on this Total Quickie Trip. sigh. This is in Hickory Run. 
The water this year was so low, there was NO water to drive thru this year.
I have never seen it dry before. It is unusual to see little "islands" in the pools above the falls. 
But the reflection of the rhododendron was nice even in the shallow water.
And why, you might ask, Why was this trip so fast? Hadji is diabetic, as some of you might remember... and HAS to eat a LOT of certain foods... and does not do well under stress. 
He lost 8 oz. while we were gone - Monday to Friday. That is a lot for a little cat. I am glad to say, it took only 3 days to put it back on him. He came home and ate and ate and drank and drank! No, it is not a Spoiled thing - it is his LIFE!
Just a little beyond this, maybe 50 feet, the creek drops down another falls into the river.
The river is the Lehigh and flows about than 800 feet from our house. The Pennsylvania (?)railroad built their tracks along the river which used to be navigable up as far as White Haven and some say even beyond. Now the old RR bed is used for bikers and hikers. They bring 'em in by the bus load from the camps and resorts. 
Just up the road a piece is this house... 
I had to take that pic from the road while driving - no place to stop... See the guard rail? Talk about a "white noise" machine to help you sleep! Can you imagine? But my favorite sleeping sound is still the surf and a fog horn. Oh well. Maybe once again before I die... But, until then, waterfalls will do. 
Does it look like a rotten board to you? It looks like a law suit in waiting to me - so - off to the lumber yard and a sheet of plywood nailed over the hole until my brother can get up there to put in some new tongue and groove. 
Not very pretty, I know - but at 3/4 an inch - nobody can go thru that hole without pulling up the plywood. So between that and the poison sumac that has been allowed to grow
into the yard and driveway up back, I was pretty busy, and pretty lucky to have a chance to take a quick drive down to the river. That sumac is well over 6 feet tall. 
This is after I cut some of it, and the grass, back. This little opening used to be wide enough to drive my van thru. Some of the grass has not been cut this year at all. In fact, it looks like it wasn't cut last fall, either. 
The entrance to our apartment is under this roof - that is the first floor down there.
the river and streams are full... 
makes for nice waterfalls.
I think we missed the Mountain Laurel - have seen only a little of it. Some of the rhododendron is in bloom. 
The water in the dam is up over the road - not on purpose, just a lot of rain.
See the vehicles at the water's edge?
The Lehigh is fast and full.
We hit bottom in one spot. Got the tires washed at any rate!
