The Art of Tree Climbing
photo credit - Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times Growing up in the San Fernando Valley we did a lot of tree climbing. Alongside our driveway was a hearty Maple tree that held my brother and I safely as we ascended to its top. Using the sturdy thick branches as stepping stones and the willowy thinner ones to stop us from falling we'd navigate to the highest views. At night in the summertime, our gang played a game called ditch, a tag contest where one child was "it" and the others hid in bushes, behind fences or under cars until captured. If swift enough, we'd escape by dashing towards a designated "safe" Jacaranda, one of the many purple flowering trees on our tree-lined cul-de-sac. The braver of us also climbed those Jacarandas. Their trunks were thicker and taller with fewer low hanging branches so you had to be strong enough to shimmy-up first, like a phone-company pole climber, before grabbing an accommodating branch to help you...