Finally Some Mud On My Boots – Jan 3

Dear life,

One tank of gas got me from Philly down to Siler City, NC.  That Prius is amazing.  Horse & Sparrow welcomed me into their cabin with a hot meal last night.  It is refreshing to talk freely with them about “primitive” skills, post-industrial survivalism, and shelter-building while wandering around goats, chickens, and composting out houses. I’m not in Kensington anymore.  However, hunting season has filled the air with gunshots around here and I am bummed that the shot of a gun firing is more familiar to me than the coyotes at night.  This country air will be good for me.

Today we visited Circle Acres, which is a community closeby of about 10 folks who have built a bunch of shelters and 12’x12’ living quarters, community kitchens, and a small CSA farm on a plot of land and are figuring out how to live in community together out in the country.  I got a great tour of the area and got to pop into a number of the structures, which are all heated with wood burning stoves. What an inspiration to me when thinking about alternative living spaces.  Below is a view of 2 of the structures.

12'x12' structure with addition. Back door view.

12'x12' with addition. Front view.

Inside, 1st floor

The tree house!!!!

When I first moved into Cambria (my house in Philly), I had visions of continuing to invest time & energy into the build-out of the already creative space by designing mosaics, building shelving and plastered or cobbed walls, filled with little treasures & secret shelves.  This past year took the wind out of my sails with these build-out thoughts, but the structures we saw today sparked a lot of ideas for how we could try out some new ideas at home. 

The lady who is building the tree house pictured above had never built anything structural before.  And here she is, figuring it out, getting help, and just going for it.  Not always the easiest thing to do, but the “just go for it” attitude gets a lot more accomplished than psyching yourself out and never getting anything else done.  Note to self.

I am sitting in an empty 12'x12' lofted house right now, hooked into the one ethernet cable on this homestead, typing with chilly fingers as a bent-eared cat watches me from the porch, waiting to escort me back to Horse & Sparrow's cabin.  I'm going to do that.