Warning: This post is rated BP-MA (Blog Post for Mature Audiences). Viewer discretion is advised.
The Majestic Red Oak towered over the landscape below. Once a dense deciduous forest of Oaks, Elms and hedge trees, bulldozers had transformed the land into building lots for a new subdivision. This once regal woodland had been reduced to a simple line of trees a mere 20 yards wide, it’s purpose now a line of demarcation between existing homes and new houses springing up to the West.
At the base of the tree a different type of construction was underway. Pre-teen boys with materials from the new homes’ scrap pile, were building a three room treehouse. Today the boys were celebrating, having driven the last nail to secure the final scrap of shag carpet to the floor of the “make out room,” a dark room without windows. They were sitting on a rock smoking Marlboros and admiring their creation. Soon they would ascend a pull down ladder and emerge through a trap door in the floor to spend time in the “entertainment room.” Here they would engage in card games and admire photos in a recently acquired Hugh Hefner publication. This fortress of solitude provided a rich environment to learn life skills such as ingenuity, creative design and basic carpentry. Escape to this “tree line” had become the boys’ daily activity. Realizing it was getting close to dinnertime they stashed the cigarettes and magazines in a waterproof vault (plastic tub buried in the ground) and covered it with camouflage material. They placed the tools in the trailer (Little Red Wagon), attached it to a Schwinn Stingray bicycle and departed for home.
“Bad Boy” is one of several Larry Williams songs which the Beatles covered during their career. It is from the album Beatles VI, the Beatles’ seventh Capitol Records release in the United States (including The Beatles’ Story). It was the ninth album released into that market in less than one and a half years (Vee-Jay Records and United Artists Records also released one album each during that period). The LP was released in both mono and stereo versions.
Beatles VI reached number one in Billboard for six weeks, beginning on 10 July 1965.
Just another great glimpse into Brad’s life! Keep them coming, Brad, you bad boy!
I feel so sad for kids, today, who don’t have the freedom to roam, to discover themselves and their environment, and to explore the limits of their creativity and ability. You were so lucky to grow up in such a time and place! You weren’t a bad boy, at all.
That make-out room didn’t get the utilization you all were hoping for, did it?
Sadly, no making out ever happened in the make-out room. #neededgirls
The make-out room cracks me up! And the secret vault! Love hearing your stories!
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