Here is a short video tour of my completed cabin in the woods of Maine.
I came back to New England with goals. I remember the zeal and enthusiasm I toted around Seoul before I left, but now see them as tarnished with anxiety and open wounds. I wanted to heal, and I did, but it was not the lofty, romantic scenes I imagined from afar that applied the sutures. Instead it was the element behind the ideas that let me heal. I found a new way to heal; passively. I sat, and thought whenever I wanted to for 3 months. I didn't force it, I let the memories, questions, and acceptance come to me through time. Someone said to me that they hoped my cabin was everything I imagined. It wasn't, it isn't. It's an actual physical place where I have sat, and healed, and finally tired of. My life inside it was entirely different from what I had imagined, but it accomplished a lot of what I hoped it would.
Let's see how I've done on life goals I set prior, then onto the cabin details.
"I have a set a few tasks for myself to begin. There are as follows;"
"* Re-connect with the people I love." Definitely have done that.
"* Build a small cabin on family land in the woods of Maine to....
[Spend a couple of months there healing body, mind and soul.
Enjoy the process of creating.
Re-connect with the natural world.]" I found that I didn't have to "re-connect' with nature. I just had to sit and think. The connection was never gone, it was just obstructed by stress and cement. One of the things that helped me heal the most was the effect of the colors around me that made me feel lighter, content, and healed. I have a shotgun in my cabin -or 'shack' as it has been dubbed by my local friend- and I've spent a good deal of cathartic time shooting clay pigeons. Please don't ask me why it helps, for it's probably due to some part of human nature I dislike or perhaps some conditioning from growing up in Maine. I have to admit, I don't hate guns, I like them. I hate the way people use guns or any other means to destroy lives. I have a gun for two reasons. 1) preservation of the 2nd amendment, 2) protection from things which most likely only exist in my head. The release of pressure that resulted from shooting down floating, orange discs was an unexpected bonus.
"* Spend time at D-acres Organic Permaculture Farm & Educational Farmstead to...
[Learn anything and everything I can about sustainable agriculture, forestry, green building, clean energy, community, and friendship]" Sadly, this didn't work out, but I did learn how to cut my water and electricity waste down considerably. During August, I used roughly 16-17 gallons of water for washing and drinking per week. That is less than you use to brush you teeth if you leave the water running while you brush.
"* Read and write like a fiend." I was most surprised that I didn't read or write all that much, in fact I read less than I did when I was teaching. I did write, but it was much different than I anticipated. I'm not writing quickly, but much more carefully than previous attempts.
"* Move to an urban environment bringing these skills, feelings and a healthy state of mind in order to determine if I can live there with MUCH less impact on the planet, without sacrificing my happiness, and subtly spread these ideas. )" We'll seeeeeeeeeeee.
Ultimately, although I read less, I really connected with one book I read. Before I left Seoul I exchnaged a handful of books I had around for "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. LeGuin. I've had a great deal of stress and unhappiness in my life due to my reluctance to accept change and uncertainty in life. This novel touches upon this concept with the wisdom only a person of her age could. It was like a gift. Like having a wise grandparent around to tell me a fascinating story that was really a large metaphor for a way I have to see the world. The idea that blew my mind is that uncertainty, rather than being a burden, is the one thing that makes life possible. I won't go into my personal interpretation of this work, but I feel that I've wrapped my mind around the way I deal with change, uncertainty, and the rational and irrational fears they produce. This is not to say that I am not affected by the natural fear of change and uncertain, but rather I have been able to see how to think about them in a way that leaves me feeling hope.
I also had set conditions for building the cabin. These conditions were actually a plague, and presented me with the only battle I faced mentally this summer. I wanted to stick to my budget so badly, and wanted things done so quickly that I got genuinely stressed out for about a week in the middle of the building. Even in this I learned about not imagining myself into despair because reality won't conform to my dreams. In my defense, I was living in this cabin that was a metal roof over a structure of posts and pallets that was covered in Typar. The nights of the first week were strange huddled in there knowing anything that wanted in would find little to stop it. Thus came the shotgun.
Let's have look at how well life conformed to dream;
"A) $200 budget firm" HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA try $400
"B) Use mostly salvaged materials" I used about half salvaged materials. Details will be below with materials breakdown.
"C) Keep it simple (something I can mostly do by myself, with a hand here and there.)" Exactly how it worked out, though even simple can become complicated when you ALWAYS have the wrong tool.
"D) Create a space that will encourage (or perhaps force) a way of life that will help me heal." Living in a tiny space was liberating. It really allowed me to simplify my life, and that simple living was cleansing, and I can see how to apply it to other places I will live in the future. However, it started to rain a lot, and then I began to understand the origin of the phrase 'cabin fever'.
"E) Get the building done quickly, so I can do the living, but do things with great care and respect." In retrospect, this sentence seriously resembles a joke. I lived in the the cabin after working on it for a week, then it took me 7 weeks till I finally finished everything (except staining the siding). I'll be leaving the cabin in a bout a week. So really, I'll have to stain next week and move out, meaning I worked on the thing the entire time I stayed there. This is fine, because I enjoyed having something to due every morning. What is truly laughable is the idea that I could do everything with care. I borrowed all tools, and I was very thankful to those who lent them to me, but I had a skill saw at one time that was so dull it had a hard time cutting dimensional lumber. I cut the whole in the door facade with some rat tail handsaw thing I found in my brother's tools. I used flathead screwdrivers as a wood chisel. My brother said at every turn while helping me that my cabin was "built like a barn". At the beginning these things were getting me flustered. I wanted to 'do a good job'. I believe in the old adage do something right, or don't do it at all. Life happened though, I got a little worn down by the chase for cheap, salvaged or sustainably produced materials for siding. Then I just gave up a little. Just a little, just enough to relax. Then I realized that the things I gave up on and just worked around were things I could have never worked out, because quite simply, the mistake was made. I did what carpenters do to cover minor mistakes; finish work! HAHAHA I covered those mistakes as well as I could, and everything turned out looking nice.
Now it's October, and the leaves on the grove of Sumac's have turned orange, read, and mostly fallen.
Materials breakdown:
$65 Dimensional lumber cut locally from salvaged logs a mile from the land.
$35 LED solar shed lights.
$45 PVC roofing panels.
$20 Windows, new second-hand bought from a nice old man on a country road nearby.
$50 fuel to get pallets and other salvaged materials.
$50 nails and screws
$10 silicone door and window sealer.
$15 cedar shingles
$95 3'x4'x4' pallet of .75"x8" & 6"pine boards in 4' lengths. All scrap from full length boards sold at Hancock Lumber, a new England Lumber company that SFI certified, and practice local sustainable forestry, and carry some other Green building materials.
$15 hammer
$70 Portable camp toilet.
$45 small tower heater.
$50 dorm type fridge
-- -- --
$400
I got these materials free from construction waste, warehouse waste, materials that were on the redneck property, and what friends and family were getting rid of.
14 pallets from a warehouse.
10 laminate flooring 'cover sheets' that are used to cover pallets of flooring during shipping from a warehouse.
1 free new second-hand window from a family member.
1 interior door new second-hand window from a family member.
4 sheets of MDF project excess from a family member.
100 sq ft of project excess Uniclick laminate flooring from a family friend.
1/2 roll of Typar waste from a construction company.
dimensional lumber waste from a construction company
6 metal roofing panels that were abandoned on the property.
2 antique ceramic electric wire insulators that were abandoned on the property.
It's hard to look at a list and estimate what percentage of a building is made of salvaged materials since the materials are all different sizes. However, it seems like more than half of the structure is made of materials that would have ended up in landfill somewhere. Also, I bought very little new, and wherever feasible I bought local and responsible. Given the location though, I did have to patronize Walmart more than I would have liked to.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
A Relentless Flow of Change
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| little meditation space |
The design process for my little hut has been a learning experience. As I previously stated, I began grandiose (as far as micro-structure built out of other people's trash can be), then began to pare down bit-by-bit, model-by-model, all the while trying to get a feel for what it will be like to reside in these tiny boxes for a couple of months. Finally, I created the simplest, most affordable space I felt I could inhabit. I eliminated windows, using clear roofing for light, and sized everything down. I got a little pallet cube. In all areas of consideration it should have been perfect, but when I looked at it, it was just a shed, I could not foster a connection with it.
Alas, I found inspiration! Inspiration in the heart of the very epitome of excess; at a palace! I went to the largest, and most famous palace in Seoul, and looked carefully at the structures -as I always do in such historical places- trying to feel what it would have felt like to be there in the time of use. I was struck by the fact that it wasn't the great or the larger than life elements of the place -which royalty used to mask their utter humanness- but in the simple spaces that are under all of the dainty furniture and pomp that the beauty lay for me. Many of the rooms were actually very similar to the widths I have been using, only a bit longer. As I peered inside, I realized the size space I really wanted to be in for 2 months. Also, important was how much more inviting the landscaping, and situation of the structures in relation to the nature around them was than the places themselves.
These things sent me back to the track-pad to put life into my micro-dwelling, and to bring my life into the natural world. I made a new structure that I believe will not make me feel like a prisoner when inside, but encourage me to be outside most of the time. I created some little ideas to make the land around me become a large part of my dwelling.
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| the minimal- essentially a shed |
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| hopefully my last design |
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| (above) side view, (right) great little solar light I found on northerntool.com |  |
Sunday, June 19, 2011
A Cabin, a Hut, a Shack, a Shed, or a Micro Dwelling...
The important thing is not so much what I label this place in the woods I plan to build, as the function it serves for me.
In the last few years I've been realizing more and more that the uncertainty this world forces upon all of us is a great source of stress to me. So, due to the fact that there is some uncertainty as to the future of our family holding onto this property, my little place in woods will be a limited structure. I will work within the confines of that reality, using it to my benefit, rather than seeing it as a burden. This will force me to work on a few of the personality traits that I find less than desirable in myself. Such as my eagerness to abandon undertakings which seem to present a good deal of difficulty in the future, and not trusting that things will work out regardless of my worrying about them, and finally my reluctance to let any project stay modest, (rather, I usually let ideas and projects stew in my head until I have built them up to some massive scale that is more often than not, unnecessary).
So, I have set out these conditions to work under;
A) $200 budget firm
B) Use mostly salvaged materials
C) Keep it simple (something I can mostly do by myself, with a hand here and there.)
D) Create a space that will encourage (or perhaps force) a way of life that will help me heal.
E) Get the building done quickly, so I can do the living, but do things with great care and respect.
So onto the stuff that is probably more interesting to anyone who may actually read this drivel.
The details:
I've been on a little quest to get some materials rounded up, so that when I get to Maine, I'll have a little heap of material to get started right away. My staple material so to speak, is going to be the shipping pallet. These things are easy to get a hold of in large quantities, and since getting in better physical shape is a goal of this experience, the labor involved in turning these into usable, and even ATTRACTIVE lumber is not a cause for concern.
Another material I plan to use a lot of, is used and/or broken furniture such as the entertainment centers, desks, coffee tables, etc. that our society makes in gargantuan quantities out of cheap MDF covered in pseudo-wood plastic. I'm going to scour the area for these things, rip them into uniform strips, and make a poorman's sort of tongue-and-groove out them. This I will use as wall and floor covering materials for indoor finishing.
Dimensional lumber I will try to acquire from construction company waste, Craigslist and Freecycle waste. A family member is also being a great help with that. Thanks!!!
I'll also try to get some bricks for free where ever I run into them, to make a a brick grill/cooking area.
I will buy new roofing panels made of PVC/Poly, and galvanized steel, as I am not keen on a leaky roof, and my knowledge of/ experience with roofs is fairly limited.
I predict I will also need to buy some longer pieces of dimensional lumber for framing. I spent a good amount of time on the internet, and found a lumber company that is local, harvests their wood sustainably, and I'll be happy to spend what I can afford to support such a business.
I spent about ten thousand years designing structures on Google Sketchup over the last few months. I have created so many structures, only to decide that they fail to meet one on of my requirements. Perhaps a dozen that I drew up piece by piece, until I found some reason it wasn't feasible. As is usually the way, I have been moving in a more Spartan, simple direction with each structure over the last month. To give an idea of the last stretch of design mayhem, (which involved several marathon 5 hour Sketchup sessions), I'm posting a few pictures of some of the ideas. Unless by chance I have some plethora of free materials fall into my lap, I believe I will go with a simple camp setup constructed of mostly pallets, with a simple outdoor solar shower, a solar oven, and brick grill to cook with wood, and a composting toilet in or outdoors. I've found a great little solar light that will be my primary lighting indoors, and I'll find the cheapest little patio solar lights that I can for the deck area.
For purposes of Building codes and obscene rural bureaucracy, I am building a "shed" that I will "camp" in part time. Among friends, I prefer to refer to it as my little hut or dwelling, simply because that suits my tastes more.
Here are some the simplest designs that are contenders for the title of zen-lumberjack micro-dwelling;
In the last few years I've been realizing more and more that the uncertainty this world forces upon all of us is a great source of stress to me. So, due to the fact that there is some uncertainty as to the future of our family holding onto this property, my little place in woods will be a limited structure. I will work within the confines of that reality, using it to my benefit, rather than seeing it as a burden. This will force me to work on a few of the personality traits that I find less than desirable in myself. Such as my eagerness to abandon undertakings which seem to present a good deal of difficulty in the future, and not trusting that things will work out regardless of my worrying about them, and finally my reluctance to let any project stay modest, (rather, I usually let ideas and projects stew in my head until I have built them up to some massive scale that is more often than not, unnecessary).
So, I have set out these conditions to work under;
A) $200 budget firm
B) Use mostly salvaged materials
C) Keep it simple (something I can mostly do by myself, with a hand here and there.)
D) Create a space that will encourage (or perhaps force) a way of life that will help me heal.
E) Get the building done quickly, so I can do the living, but do things with great care and respect.
So onto the stuff that is probably more interesting to anyone who may actually read this drivel.
The details:
I've been on a little quest to get some materials rounded up, so that when I get to Maine, I'll have a little heap of material to get started right away. My staple material so to speak, is going to be the shipping pallet. These things are easy to get a hold of in large quantities, and since getting in better physical shape is a goal of this experience, the labor involved in turning these into usable, and even ATTRACTIVE lumber is not a cause for concern.
Another material I plan to use a lot of, is used and/or broken furniture such as the entertainment centers, desks, coffee tables, etc. that our society makes in gargantuan quantities out of cheap MDF covered in pseudo-wood plastic. I'm going to scour the area for these things, rip them into uniform strips, and make a poorman's sort of tongue-and-groove out them. This I will use as wall and floor covering materials for indoor finishing.
Dimensional lumber I will try to acquire from construction company waste, Craigslist and Freecycle waste. A family member is also being a great help with that. Thanks!!!
I'll also try to get some bricks for free where ever I run into them, to make a a brick grill/cooking area.
I will buy new roofing panels made of PVC/Poly, and galvanized steel, as I am not keen on a leaky roof, and my knowledge of/ experience with roofs is fairly limited.
I predict I will also need to buy some longer pieces of dimensional lumber for framing. I spent a good amount of time on the internet, and found a lumber company that is local, harvests their wood sustainably, and I'll be happy to spend what I can afford to support such a business.
I spent about ten thousand years designing structures on Google Sketchup over the last few months. I have created so many structures, only to decide that they fail to meet one on of my requirements. Perhaps a dozen that I drew up piece by piece, until I found some reason it wasn't feasible. As is usually the way, I have been moving in a more Spartan, simple direction with each structure over the last month. To give an idea of the last stretch of design mayhem, (which involved several marathon 5 hour Sketchup sessions), I'm posting a few pictures of some of the ideas. Unless by chance I have some plethora of free materials fall into my lap, I believe I will go with a simple camp setup constructed of mostly pallets, with a simple outdoor solar shower, a solar oven, and brick grill to cook with wood, and a composting toilet in or outdoors. I've found a great little solar light that will be my primary lighting indoors, and I'll find the cheapest little patio solar lights that I can for the deck area.
For purposes of Building codes and obscene rural bureaucracy, I am building a "shed" that I will "camp" in part time. Among friends, I prefer to refer to it as my little hut or dwelling, simply because that suits my tastes more.
Here are some the simplest designs that are contenders for the title of zen-lumberjack micro-dwelling;
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| small cabin idea |
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| pallet pod |
 | ||
| Pallet camp structure. The top part of this is taken from Derek Deek Diedricksen's "UB 30" structure he built in VT. His site Relaxshacks.blogspot.com is a frequent stop on my daily website carousings. http://relaxshacks.blogspot.com/2011_05_01_archive.html |
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| MDF ripped from furniture into tongue-and-groove like boards with a table saw |
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| offset pallet box-wedgie like idea |
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
A Pursuit in Reclamation (Overview)
To begin
I have considered sharing this part of my life carefully. My feelings regarding the era we live in -where information is king, and privacy is lost- causes me more than a little discomfort. However, one reason we all choose to lead digital lives, however congruent or disingenuine they may be, is that humans seek to be understood. I am no exception, and I hope that the people I care about may understand my rather hard-to-swallow disposition a little better if they give this blog a read. Perhaps as well, strangers who may stumble upon this will share similar sentiments, and either find solace in the knowledge of others who feel the same, or be able to share in my pursuits. I am never opposed to connecting with people of a similar mind.
Background
I was raised in a rural part of Maine. My personality being what it is, in youth I resented the quiet and the boredom. I ran to Boston, seeking more populated places until a decade later I landed in Seoul, South Korea, one of the most heavily populated places on earth. Then, I began to grow very weary of people, of cement, of excess, of the lack of connection our society offers.
My pursuit
So, inspired by some of my greatest interests; Transcendentalism, sustainable living, the small house movement, the Zuni, Zen, and more, I am in pursuit of reclamation. What I seek to reclaim is essentially myself;
*The direction of my life
*A space in my native land (the woods of Maine)
*My wellness (bodily, emotional, spiritual, intellectual)
*Materials -which are so wasted by our society
I have made a serious decision to stick to the personal, lifestyle, and social elements of the world, and avoid the political -which I simply feel is more appropriately discussed face to face. Here is the summary of my dilemma.
I feel that human society is deeply flawed, I find no peace in the current manner of "acceptable" living. I have a great distrust of humans in large groups, and I believe there is a better way (at least for myself) to live.
My goal; to begin the process of creating a better way for myself to live in this world, to set out on that path, learn skills to give me freedom, and connect with others who share my misgivings, and are traveling in a similar direction.
I have a set a few tasks for myself to begin. There are as follows;
* Re-connect with the people I love.
* Build a small cabin on family land in the woods of Maine to....
[Spend a couple of months there healing body, mind and soul.
Enjoy the process of creating.
Re-connect with the natural world.]
* Spend time at D-acres Organic Permaculture Farm & Educational Farmstead to...
[Learn anything and everything I can about sustainable agriculture, forestry, green building, clean energy, community, and friendship]
* Read and write like a fiend.
* Move to an urban environment bringing these skills, feelings and a healthy state of mind in order to determine if I can live there with MUCH less impact on the planet, without sacrificing my happiness, and subtly spread these ideas.
until next time
I have considered sharing this part of my life carefully. My feelings regarding the era we live in -where information is king, and privacy is lost- causes me more than a little discomfort. However, one reason we all choose to lead digital lives, however congruent or disingenuine they may be, is that humans seek to be understood. I am no exception, and I hope that the people I care about may understand my rather hard-to-swallow disposition a little better if they give this blog a read. Perhaps as well, strangers who may stumble upon this will share similar sentiments, and either find solace in the knowledge of others who feel the same, or be able to share in my pursuits. I am never opposed to connecting with people of a similar mind.
Background
I was raised in a rural part of Maine. My personality being what it is, in youth I resented the quiet and the boredom. I ran to Boston, seeking more populated places until a decade later I landed in Seoul, South Korea, one of the most heavily populated places on earth. Then, I began to grow very weary of people, of cement, of excess, of the lack of connection our society offers.
My pursuit
So, inspired by some of my greatest interests; Transcendentalism, sustainable living, the small house movement, the Zuni, Zen, and more, I am in pursuit of reclamation. What I seek to reclaim is essentially myself;
*The direction of my life
*A space in my native land (the woods of Maine)
*My wellness (bodily, emotional, spiritual, intellectual)
*Materials -which are so wasted by our society
I have made a serious decision to stick to the personal, lifestyle, and social elements of the world, and avoid the political -which I simply feel is more appropriately discussed face to face. Here is the summary of my dilemma.
I feel that human society is deeply flawed, I find no peace in the current manner of "acceptable" living. I have a great distrust of humans in large groups, and I believe there is a better way (at least for myself) to live.
My goal; to begin the process of creating a better way for myself to live in this world, to set out on that path, learn skills to give me freedom, and connect with others who share my misgivings, and are traveling in a similar direction.
I have a set a few tasks for myself to begin. There are as follows;
* Re-connect with the people I love.
* Build a small cabin on family land in the woods of Maine to....
[Spend a couple of months there healing body, mind and soul.
Enjoy the process of creating.
Re-connect with the natural world.]
* Spend time at D-acres Organic Permaculture Farm & Educational Farmstead to...
[Learn anything and everything I can about sustainable agriculture, forestry, green building, clean energy, community, and friendship]
* Read and write like a fiend.
* Move to an urban environment bringing these skills, feelings and a healthy state of mind in order to determine if I can live there with MUCH less impact on the planet, without sacrificing my happiness, and subtly spread these ideas.
until next time
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