Leah and Cora

This post is dedicated to two special little ladies, Leah and Cora, who are getting their very own playhouse this week. In honor of the magic all kids know (and few adults remember), I now present: a manly nursery rhyme. Mock me if you must, but know this... I could have set it to music*.

 Not so long ago, in a burly man's garage; appeared a pile of lumber, from a friendly neighbor's lodge.

In surveying this stash, the bearded man exclaimed; "what fine lumber I have got, kiln-dried and double planed!"

The burly, bearded man whipped up, a flurry of sawdust; the hammer flew, the pencil drew, and each detail he fussed.

Four walls, two windows, and a roof, the old grouch had it right; a playhouse, built to come apart, to make the moving light.

There upon the trailer, a strap cinched tightly 'round; the four walls sat, so oddly, for the roof was on the ground.

Once lifted up and nuzzled in, the roof did fit quite well; that all the pieces came apart, you really couldn't tell.

Around the windows, and the door, sharp edges were smoothed out; saving fingers, heads and toes, things kids forget about.

While waiting for his wife to come, to snap a few quick pics; the bearded man grew fidgety, so these two thrones he fixed.

A throne is where a princess sits, or maybe just a queen; either way, the bearded man, thinks these are pretty mean. The End.

I had to go to Lowe's at the end of the day to get mores cedar shakes and hinges, which explains why they are not pictured.

Up next, a coop. Up next after that? Tree fort, so glad I held on to that resume I typed up when I was 11 years old! I knew it would come in handy some day.

-F.W.

*Evidence, from back when I was a school teacher: