A Treehouse, a little you-and-me house

What a weekend the three gals from Syracuse picked for a visit to Fern Forest Treehouse. They had booked a year earlier, aiming for peak foliage season, and they hit it spot on. The maples put on a show of gold, orange, and crimson accented with deep green of the pines. Cool nights made for good sleeps and after a hike to the top of Mt. Abe and a soak in the hot tub, the trio hunkered down under blankets high in the trees. In the morning they shuffled in wearing onesies—a tiger, a lion, and a skeleton—for cups of hot black coffee.             Ashley, a singer-songwriter, is known as Syracuse’s “wild child rocker,” and her band, Professional Victims, has played nationally. By day Ashley works at a tech company selling secondary market tech hardware, but at night she takes to the stage in exotic outfits, her long dark hair swinging at her waist. On Saturday night we all sat by the wood stove and she played a few songs on her guitar and sang, her resonant voice effusing emotion. 

            “In dreams and in life, nothing is impossible.” Jared and Emily left this fortune cookie adage in the Treehouse guestbook when they checked out last weekend. It seems appropriate that I read it on the day of Meghan Markle’s wedding to Prince Harry because, as it turns out, Emily and Jared will follow their lead in the autumn of next year.             Jared was a bundle of nerves when he texted H about the best way to propose to Emily during their upcoming weekend at Fern Forest Treehouse. H suggested they climb Mt. Abraham and he pop the question at the summit. But it was a chilly day in mid-May and although they are both marathon runners, Jared wanted a venue more relaxing. We offered a couple other ideas—a soak in the hot tub, borrowing the mic at a local music concert, or taking the gondola to the top of the mountain in Stowe. None of those idea floated with Jared.  Finally, we suggested walking the Robert Frost inspirational trail in Ripton, where Frost lived for