David 'Squirrelman' Csaky collects wood for a fire in his Seattle tree house.
Posted on 04/10/2008 6:04:29 AM PDT by ShadowDancer
Neighbors Chip in to Buy RV for Seattle 'Squirrelman'
Thursday, April 10, 2008
SEATTLE — A homeless man who has spent the past two years living in a treehouse has a new, terrestrial home just in the nick of time, thanks to neighbors.
David "Squirrelman" Csaky, a self-taught carpenter, learned Tuesday that neighbors had found an aging recreational vehicle for him to occupy.
"I'm overwhelmed," Csaky said. "I started crying when they told me."
For two years, Csaky, 52, has lived about 30 feet above the ground in a 300-square-foot self-made platform, accessible by a ladder counterweighted with sandbags on pulleys on city land.
Csaky outfitted the treehouse with a tent, wood stove, three chairs, shelves and a counter with an unplumbed sink. His pets include Lucky, a rat; Rainbow, a ferret; and Tilt, a squirrel.
He was lately threatened with eviction because the treehouse is a health and safety concern.
Brandon Ferrante, 28, and Maria Bolander, 27, who befriended him after watching the treehouse take shape, found an aging 22-foot RV online after they learned of Csaky's situation.
"It broke our hearts," Ferrante said. "He's taken care of the neighborhood. We couldn't sleep at night. We decided to make it happen."
They and their landlords, Janet Yoder and husband Robby Rudine, agreed to buy the rig for $500 after the owner offered a special "Squirrelman" discount.
"David's a unique character but a good neighbor," Yoder said.
After delivering the RV Tuesday evening, owner Timothy Custer decided instead to sell it to Csaky for a penny.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
David 'Squirrelman' Csaky collects wood for a fire in his Seattle tree house.
Okkk... so, we have a guy living in a tree, whose pets include a rat, and he’s got a penchant for woodworking with Axes and hammers.
Ya know... maybe he’s a reallly, rellly nice fella. Or maybe one of these days he goes a bit squirrely and hacks up someone with that ax.
A carpenter build high end tree houses for yuppies in my area. These are not for kids but adults. TV, Refrig etc
A place to truly get away.
"... sometimes, he'd lie awake... and fantasize..."
You don't say.......
Just so long as you don’t call him a monkey...
Ping.
Although the article doesn’t say, I’d bet he’s NOT on welfare. Perhaps we should offer tree houses as alternative housing to welfare recipients. Oh wait...
My son and his friends found a man living in his car in a vacant lot. When he told others about it, they went together and found a cheap trailer, which they put in the alley behind my son’s business. The police never bothered him, although it was illegal to live in the alley. My son put an electrical outlet in the alley so he could have light and heat, and another tenant strung a phone line from his office to the trailer.
Then, one day, we saw the Hinckley and Schmitt delivery man leave a 5 gallon bottle of water outside his door, and then we saw rabbit ears on the roof. But the funniest thing was when we saw a little fishing boat next to the trailer! He was living the life!
He stayed in that trailer in that spot until he died. He was a veteran and the vet hospital was nearby, and his benefactors even found him a burial spot in a veteran’s cemetery in Rock Island Illinois. He was a kind man who had fallen on hard times.
I'm wondering who is going to pay for the spot to park it in, the insurance on it, license, registration, and whatever other required items he'll need to live in it. Not to mention the maintenance. If it's an aging RV, he'll be in for some repairs down the road.
Am I the only one who heard “Squirrel Man” and immediately thought of Ron White?
“Watch out with that ax, Eugene”..........
Looks like malice to me. Getting him an RV that hopefully will take him some place else before it breaks down. Certainly wouldn’t want one that would permit him to come back. Kind of like PETA activists relocating domestic animals into the wild.
The only life form more despised Internet-wide than serious Trekkers . . .
He can’t move back in, the city tore down his tree house. I’ve read another story about this guy. He sounds like a good guy who fell on hard times and is making his way the only way he knows how, but that’s just a little bit more than the law will allow. (hat tip to Waylon Jennings)
I have a friend in a similar situation. He lives in a homemade shack in the woods. Last winter, when the temps got real cold, some of us at church offered to spring for a hotel room for him but he refused and said that he was keeping comfortable.
Hey, this is a good story. Human beings coming to the aid of a fellow human being. No government handouts or welfare. I hope Mr. Csaky appreciates his good fortune and endeavors to return the favor one day.
I hope the guy gets back on his feet. Anybody who could design and build that treehouse by himself and keep it standing for a couple of years has got some skills to offer. And it’s great to see people getting involved to help without the government reaching into their pockets. I just pray Squirrel Man takes his chance and runs with it.
}:-)4
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