It’s funny how the everyday reality of living in a tree has become so normal for me now that it appears even in my dreams. In most of my dreams even if I am not in the tree or doing anything related to the forest, I am still marked in some way by my tree-top experiences. Most commonly this is through the presence of my rope.   It pops up in most of my dreams, for example trying to shut a door but I can’t  because my rope was in the way! In another dream I was on my front porch talking to the neighbours, my rope was trailing out the front door, attached to me and I was trying to hide it so as not to give away the fact that I was a “greenie.” Or sometimes I suddenly realise I’m wearing my harness. People tried to say that I could probably take it off, given that I was no longer living in a tree, but for some reason I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.

I often have dreams where I realise my tree-sit is different to how it really is (usually being a lot fancier). One time I dreamt that I suddenly became aware that I had an entire apartment attached to my tree sit! I walked in and someone was there boiling the kettle. I couldn’t believe it had taken me so long to realise that it was there, and that all that time I could have simply popped next door to boil the kettle had I felt like a cup of tea. It was so warm and dry in there and I wondered why I had ever been sitting out on that cold wet platform all these months! In my dream I fell asleep on a soft and cosy red couch in the apartment. It was so vivid that when I really awoke in the pitch black night I felt disoriented and thought I was still on the red couch. As my eyes adjusted to the faint glow of moonlight I realised that it had all been a dream and I was really in my sleeping bag inside my swag.

I had another dream where I was showing people around my tree sit and realised that I had a proper bathroom with a flushing toilet and a shower. My guests were amazed and asked me why I insisted on using a bucket for my toilet when I had all the facilities I needed. I couldn’t quiet work out the answer!

Even in dreams that have nothing to do with tree-sitting I often have moments where I suddenly think to myself: “what am I doing here? I’m meant to be in the tree!” And start panicking that I have abandoned my tree top post!

It makes me wonder what things will actually be like when I get down. Will I really want to wear my harness around for quite some time, still trailing my rope like a tail? Just because I am so used to it’s presence in my life? Will I sometimes I look down and panic when I see it’s absence? Will I have moments where I wonder what I’m doing and why I’m not in a tree? Will I want to use a bucket instead of a toilet? (Probably not!).

Will I wake in the middle of the night disoriented and unsure of where I am. Eventually as my eyes adjust to the pale light from the street lamps outside I will realise that I am asleep inside a room surrounded by four walls, instead of in my swag looking out over the moonlit forest.

Sweet dreams,
Miranda.

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