More about Henry and his ponderosa tree

Because Henry's ponderosa tree is crooked, it has branches low down on its trunk. Climbing that tree is like climbing a ladder, although rougher under the hands.

One day last summer Henry discovered he could disappear into that tree. His parents had been roasting hot dogs over a fire, his sister playing hop scotch in the dirt. Henry, bored, wandered over to his tree and climbed it -- climbed it higher than ever before. After awhile his sister came to tell him that dinner was ready. She called and called, she even looked into the tree, but she didn't see him. Finally he tossed pine cones down around her, which scared her half to death. (Never do this. It was very bad of Henry. Ponderosa pine cones are so big and heavy they could really hurt a person, especially a little sister.)

After that Henry always climbed into that hidden space. He could watch the world go by but the world never saw him. It was like being let in on a secret. Once he spent hours watching people hiking the trail below. Once he turned his back on the hikers and looked over the water instead. A blue heron stood on a rock. All kinds of smaller birds flew around. It was still early enough in the summer for the tree frogs to be talking, although he didn't see any; but he did once see a river otter, or thought he did. As he sat, the wind would sweep through all the pines in the forest and they'd make a sound like the roar of traffic, like cars in the distance. The tree moved hardly at all. It held him.