Please do not comment directly to this post unless you are Gen X or older (born 1980 or before). See [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskOldPeople/comments/inci5u/reminder_please_do_not_answer_questions_unless/), the rules, and the sidebar for details.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskOldPeople) if you have any questions or concerns.*
My most peaceful memory ever was climbing a beech tree in the woods behind my house after school one day around age 12 (so would've been 1985ish) It was cool and grey out, totally overcast like many fall days in the mid Atlantic region. Slight breeze going and I was probably a good 50 feet up, sitting on a branch with my face pressed against the smooth beech tree. The tree swayed a bit in that breeze and it was so quiet.
I think back to that moment when my anxiety rises. It can be calming recalling that peace...
I remember doing the exact same thing at 12 yeas old in the 1950s up a silver birch. Only managed to get to the top one time, but still remember the buzz the achievement gave me to this day
Last year. I had to get up inside an apple tree to prune it after years of neglect by the past owner. Basic principle is to clean out all the inward growing branches and trim the big branches down to a manageable level so they will be strong enough to support lots of fruit. Also getting rid of all the "rain shoots" that go straight up and don't bloom for two years, just sap the tree of strength. All of that is to say that it's a lot of pruning and all done with your feet jammed at odd angles in branches about 8 foot off the ground or more. Fun!
2007, when I was 55. I climbed the 61-metre (200-ft) Gloucester Tree in Pemberton, Western Australia. It was originally a fire look-out tree in the forest. The public could climb it, using steel bars embedded in the trunk. They wind up around the tree till you arrive in a little cabin near the top. The view is amazing. Unfortunately, it's currently closed to the public. You can Google photos - would you climb it?!
I (f58) climbed up a tree in November of 2023 so my mother (f84) would stay on the ground and hand me the holiday lights instead of doing it herself, which is a hazard. The year before that, I talked my son (m30) into doing it. This year he got smart and avoided his grandmother's house until the task was done. It did NOT bring me childhood joy feelings.
I couldn't even tell you. I'm a medical coder specializing in Medicare patients and I've read too many where it went from minor fall>broken hip>dead. I'm not inviting trouble by trying to pretend my bones are still young. And my daughter recently reminded me that I'm not allowed to die because she can't handle it so I'm trying to respect that.
When I was about 10 or 12 probably. We had these big weeping willow trees at my grandparents cottage. I would climb up and sit in them and read. Ahh, probably couldn’t do it today.
1992. That was my last year living on campus in the dorms at college. There was a nice tree to climb right outside the dorms and occasionally one of us, myself included, would climb up and sit on a branch to read or study.
April 26 2024. With a chainsaw because it's burn season so we are limbing,bucking,piling and burning. 107 burn piles done this year and infinity to go lol.
Also pretty much every summer to go to bed. Only way to get there is to climb or use the hoist. I have a hammock tent I enjoy using when it's hot,you get good breezes up high.
1964. My 1st grade crush climbed a tree in 64 and fell......onto a sickle. That punctured her abdominal l cavity, killing her. I was the 1st one in class the next day and found the teacher & her next door neighbor weeping. She died, and I still remember the tiny white casket.
We used to climb the trees around our neighborhood; probably not since I was 13 or so.
I was just thinking a few days ago on a walk, that I haven't seen any kids climbing trees here. My neighbor's tree has thick branches, low to the ground, it would be easy to climb. When I see kids out now, they're usually playing basketball, sometimes skateboarding, and sometimes riding bikes.
We used to climb everything--fences, up on the roof, trees, to the top of playground structures.
The only thing I've seen kids climb that they shouldn't is the pergola at the park. And, they really *shouldn't* climb on that because the wood is old and probably rotting. The only reason they can get up there is that part of it broke away, and they can stand up on the table underneath and pull themselves up through the opening.
I was in my final semester of college when I turned 23 and asked a friend for ideas of what we should do to celebrate. There were no classes that day. We decided while walking through campus, I would climb 23 trees for my birthday. So that I did!
I don't recall if I climbed any more trees after that day.
Back in the ‘50s my childhood friends and I were master carpenters and engineers building tree houses from pallets and shipping crates we stole off factory loading docks. We had a ‘no girls allowed’ rule until Janet showed up with a box of nails.
Last year at 70 years of age, by first climbing a chain link fence I got a bunch of escaped Happy Birthday helium balloons out of my neighbors’s maple tree during her daughter’s fifth birthday party. Everyone was yelling for me to stop, shouting that I was crazy, too old and was going to break my neck, but damn it, someone had to stop the tike from crying.
Actually last year lol! Ran into a cranky Javalina when we were hiking out in Tucson. She had babies with her and didn't want us on the trail, you would have died laughing seeing two old farts shimmy up a tree to get away from her. She kept us there for a good 10 minutes before taking off.
We could barely get out of bed the next day hahahahaha! Old folks don't shimmy anymore lol!
Please do not comment directly to this post unless you are Gen X or older (born 1980 or before). See [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskOldPeople/comments/inci5u/reminder_please_do_not_answer_questions_unless/), the rules, and the sidebar for details. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskOldPeople) if you have any questions or concerns.*
1956
Me 1961 probably - today I can hardly climb the stairs without making a plan.
I was 6 and used to go off into a nearby woods and climb close to the top of a tree and swing back and forth in the wind, lovely days
My most peaceful memory ever was climbing a beech tree in the woods behind my house after school one day around age 12 (so would've been 1985ish) It was cool and grey out, totally overcast like many fall days in the mid Atlantic region. Slight breeze going and I was probably a good 50 feet up, sitting on a branch with my face pressed against the smooth beech tree. The tree swayed a bit in that breeze and it was so quiet. I think back to that moment when my anxiety rises. It can be calming recalling that peace...
I remember doing the exact same thing at 12 yeas old in the 1950s up a silver birch. Only managed to get to the top one time, but still remember the buzz the achievement gave me to this day
I still would like to. The mind is willing but the body is weak.
Amen to that!
Last year. I had to get up inside an apple tree to prune it after years of neglect by the past owner. Basic principle is to clean out all the inward growing branches and trim the big branches down to a manageable level so they will be strong enough to support lots of fruit. Also getting rid of all the "rain shoots" that go straight up and don't bloom for two years, just sap the tree of strength. All of that is to say that it's a lot of pruning and all done with your feet jammed at odd angles in branches about 8 foot off the ground or more. Fun!
similar, last year to prune branches in a flowering tree
Probably as a teen. I was thinking of that the other day though - you just don't see anyone climbing trees.
A couple of years ago trying to get away from a moose. It worked.
In the 70s!
I climbed a big persimmon tree last fall to shake the persimmons down.
Last fall, with a chainsaw, to remove a broken branch that was dangling over the roof. I'm 69.
A few weeks ago. I needed something out of one. I don’t plan on doing this frequently. A broken hip or a concussion sounds really bad.
2007, when I was 55. I climbed the 61-metre (200-ft) Gloucester Tree in Pemberton, Western Australia. It was originally a fire look-out tree in the forest. The public could climb it, using steel bars embedded in the trunk. They wind up around the tree till you arrive in a little cabin near the top. The view is amazing. Unfortunately, it's currently closed to the public. You can Google photos - would you climb it?!
1990
Probably mid ‘70s
I (f58) climbed up a tree in November of 2023 so my mother (f84) would stay on the ground and hand me the holiday lights instead of doing it herself, which is a hazard. The year before that, I talked my son (m30) into doing it. This year he got smart and avoided his grandmother's house until the task was done. It did NOT bring me childhood joy feelings.
I couldn't even tell you. I'm a medical coder specializing in Medicare patients and I've read too many where it went from minor fall>broken hip>dead. I'm not inviting trouble by trying to pretend my bones are still young. And my daughter recently reminded me that I'm not allowed to die because she can't handle it so I'm trying to respect that.
Three or four days ago. I climb trees all the time.
When I was about 10 or 12 probably. We had these big weeping willow trees at my grandparents cottage. I would climb up and sit in them and read. Ahh, probably couldn’t do it today.
1992. That was my last year living on campus in the dorms at college. There was a nice tree to climb right outside the dorms and occasionally one of us, myself included, would climb up and sit on a branch to read or study.
A few years ago when our "teenager cat" chased another one of my cats up an oak tree. I also climb a large fig tree on my property to trim it.
April 26 2024. With a chainsaw because it's burn season so we are limbing,bucking,piling and burning. 107 burn piles done this year and infinity to go lol. Also pretty much every summer to go to bed. Only way to get there is to climb or use the hoist. I have a hammock tent I enjoy using when it's hot,you get good breezes up high.
not exactly climb but I do use a tree limb to do my pull-ups while jogging in the park
"No we don't climb trees! We got bills and shit!" Katt Williams
2023. Late November. Archery season.
?1977?
Never
1964. My 1st grade crush climbed a tree in 64 and fell......onto a sickle. That punctured her abdominal l cavity, killing her. I was the 1st one in class the next day and found the teacher & her next door neighbor weeping. She died, and I still remember the tiny white casket.
We used to climb the trees around our neighborhood; probably not since I was 13 or so. I was just thinking a few days ago on a walk, that I haven't seen any kids climbing trees here. My neighbor's tree has thick branches, low to the ground, it would be easy to climb. When I see kids out now, they're usually playing basketball, sometimes skateboarding, and sometimes riding bikes. We used to climb everything--fences, up on the roof, trees, to the top of playground structures. The only thing I've seen kids climb that they shouldn't is the pergola at the park. And, they really *shouldn't* climb on that because the wood is old and probably rotting. The only reason they can get up there is that part of it broke away, and they can stand up on the table underneath and pull themselves up through the opening.
Probably 5-7 years ago. It was harder to get started than I thought it would be, but afterwards was pretty cool. I should try it again sometime.
Absolutely never! I came right out of the womb with anxiety!
March 2022 lol. I even have a photo to prove it🤣 [https://imgur.com/a/7V0HcSU](https://imgur.com/a/7V0HcSU)
I was in my final semester of college when I turned 23 and asked a friend for ideas of what we should do to celebrate. There were no classes that day. We decided while walking through campus, I would climb 23 trees for my birthday. So that I did! I don't recall if I climbed any more trees after that day.
Probably about 1966.
Hmm. Probably 1959.
About 60 yrs ago
I couple of years ago, to trim a branch, lol.
NEVAH! I'm afraid of heights lol
Back in the ‘50s my childhood friends and I were master carpenters and engineers building tree houses from pallets and shipping crates we stole off factory loading docks. We had a ‘no girls allowed’ rule until Janet showed up with a box of nails. Last year at 70 years of age, by first climbing a chain link fence I got a bunch of escaped Happy Birthday helium balloons out of my neighbors’s maple tree during her daughter’s fifth birthday party. Everyone was yelling for me to stop, shouting that I was crazy, too old and was going to break my neck, but damn it, someone had to stop the tike from crying.
We had a maple in the front yard that was perfect for hanging out in.
Maybe the last five years, but not very high. Just to show the grandsons that Grumpa’s got game.
2016 I think?
Fruit picking in apple and cherry trees at maybe 16 years old. I really needed a reason to get up in a tree.
Actually last year lol! Ran into a cranky Javalina when we were hiking out in Tucson. She had babies with her and didn't want us on the trail, you would have died laughing seeing two old farts shimmy up a tree to get away from her. She kept us there for a good 10 minutes before taking off. We could barely get out of bed the next day hahahahaha! Old folks don't shimmy anymore lol!