It seems to be fact of Nature that young boys like to create their own bands, tribes, clubs, and secret societies. In my case it was the [Tripe J Club]. Its members were Jim Cypert, John Duthie, and me, Jim Carlson. We formed when we were around ten or twelve years ago, so almost seventy years ago in round numbers. I don’t remember whether we had officers or, if so, who they were. But we did have our own clubhouse. It was a kind of lean-to structure built against a cement-block wall on west side of Jim Cypert’s place. Construction materials were abundennt in those days, mostly Alianthus, the so-called Tree of Heaven. It comes from Asia, as I learned much later in life. According to my mother it was a “weed tree,” hence not very desirable. There were many vacant lots in the neighborhood, spaces waiting for a house to be built. Always overgrown with ordinary knee-high weeds, but also many Trees of Heaven, all young, with trunks around an inch in diameter. Perfect for making forts and club houses. The roof was made of lattice-work of woven tree-of-heaven trunks and branches, covered with tree-of-heaving leaves to shade us from the sun. They had a pungent odor …