Remember when we were kids and used to climb trees?

This isn’t something you see often anymore. At least, I don’t.

But back in the day around my neighborhood in Liberty, NY, there wasn’t a warm afternoon that went by without some time spent ascending tree branches hand-over-hand. If there was a tree, I tried to climb it.

And you know what? I was better than most of the dudes!

Of course, once I got up there, I savored the views as well as the overall experience. It’s hard to express what trees mean to me. Call me crazy, but I always felt as if they would talk to me. There’s something majestic about them, something that touches me, that I just can’t define. 

High above the ground, supported by strong maple or chestnut branches, I was sure I was safe and was convinced I could see for a hundred miles. And if I sat still and kept quiet long enough, the birds would forget I was up there, so I could observe their behavior up close. I even sat with an owl one time, which was amazing.

To this day, I enjoy studying trees, photographing them and painting them. I find their varied textures to be endlessly fascinating. To me, trees are life.

This is not to say that every time I climbed a tree, I experienced Mother Nature in perfect bliss. You might remember the days before leash laws—most dogs then were allowed to roam around at will.

One time, a couple of big dogs—they were Dobermans, if I’m remembering correctly—got it into their heads that they needed to suddenly dash over to me and a group of friends. We didn’t know whether or not they were trying to meet us, or take our arms off at the shoulder—and we didn’t intend to find out.

Instead, we ripped into high gear, fanned out, and sprinted to the nearest trees, practically flying up the trunks to safety.

It felt like four days before those puppies got bored enough to walk away so we could climb back down.

“I’ve had experiences like that myself,” my husband Fleck nodded when I told him that tale. Turns out that where he grew up—Ellenville, NY—tree-climbing was big as well.

“It would get competitive,” he said now. “There were fierce debates over styles.”

“Styles?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he said, rubbing his whiskers and smiling. “I was pretty tall, and I could jump. So, my style was to leap at the lowest branch and pull myself up. Sometimes, I had to lean back and swing my legs to wrap around the branch.”

“Hmm,” I responded. “I tried to do smart climbs, at least when I wasn’t running from dogs.”

“What’s a smart climb?”

“That’s where you approach a tree like a rock-climber,” I explained. “You look for footholds and leverage.”

“I guess I’m just not that bright,” he laughed. “I climbed trees pretty well. But the neighborhood champ was this kid named Craig Engle. He was about four feet tall back then, and he didn’t need to jump. He would shimmy up the trunk of a tree and reach branches I couldn’t touch.”

As I’ve noted above, I appreciate trees for reasons other than just climbing. Plus, the symbolism attached to trees is powerful. They can represent endurance, immortality, strength and courage. Fleck will tell you that druids dressed in white would climb oak trees, cut down mistletoe, kill two bulls as a sacrifice, and make a potion to ensure fertility. (OK, he knows weird stuff.)

And we have family trees, which feature the branches of our ancestry, as I was reminded on a recent trip to Lew Beach, looking for the gravestone of my great grandparents, Ann and John Backman. (They owned the old Lew Beach Villa. Keep your eyes open for the rest of the story in the next Upper Delaware magazine supplement in the River Reporter.)

That’s why this month’s project is a gingerbread Tree of Life. Trees, to me, represent freedom. Their branches grow, reaching for the sun. Plus, the project is easy to do and makes for a great decoration.

As always, feel free to make my project yours. Experiment with different shapes, textures and styles. Make the tree of your own life.

And if you don’t climb a tree today, perhaps make a promise to take a minute and admire one.

 Kim M. Simons is an artist, cake artist and food artist. She has competed on numerous Food Network shows, winning “Holiday Wars” and “Cake Wars: Star Wars.” She is proud to have been voted “Best Local Celebrity, 2022” by the readers of the River Reporter. Kim is available to teach classes individually and in groups. Visit Kim’s website at www.cakesbykimsimons.com.

You will need your favorite gingerbread dough recipe. Preheat oven to 350 degrees—or to temperature recommended in the recipe...Mix up dough …

Add pieces of dough, cut into various lengths, into the frame to look like tree branches.

Add details with cake tools.

Add further details.

Bake in 5-minute intervals until golden brown and dry to the touch.

Using a paper punch, create little circles of various colors out of wafer paper.

Shape the circles into little flowers.

Add the flowers to the tree with piping gel.

Dust the piece with edible petal dust.