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Ann
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# Posted: 25 Apr 2011 03:04pm
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In February, I finished my cabin in Pa. Of course I learned a lot in the process, but now that it is done, I am still learning such things as:
--A cabin is never actually finished.
--Chores that you struggle to motivate yourself to do at home are done without delay at the cabin; some even seem fun.
--You can sit at your cabin all day doing virtually nothing, and not feel bored.
--When you are away from your cabin you think about it all the time. This is not the case when you are away from your home.
--Most people will not understand why you need a cabin, no matter how patiently you try to explain it. A few others will instantly "get it" with no explanation at all from you. So, there's no point in explaining.
--When a storm is forecast, you consider hustling to your cabin before it arrives in hopes of getting snowed in.
--Even though you've seen hundreds of deer and turkeys, a deer or turkey strolling by your cabin is a thrilling experience.
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bobrok
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# Posted: 25 Apr 2011 04:22pm
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I could not have said this better. Way to go Ann.
This may sound weird, but as I've gotten older I find it less and less appealing to be behind the wheel for a length of time.
The destination drive, however, is something that I savor while doing it.
I pass countless cars and trucks on the NYS Thruway and know most of these people are working, commuting, whatever.
The several hour drive 'primes' me s-l-o-w-l-y as we approach, then drive up into, the mountains and see the traffic lessen and then lessen some more to the point where we are sometimes the only car on the highway. It's a great mood enhancer for me.
When I arrive I'm so relaxed I can hardly unpack the jeep.
I learned that anticipation is well worth the effort.
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hilltop
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# Posted: 25 Apr 2011 07:19pm
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I agree 100%
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squirrel
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# Posted: 25 Apr 2011 07:36pm
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ditto for me too
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nathanprincipe
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# Posted: 25 Apr 2011 09:28pm
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My cabin is not done, but I sometimes live there in my mind, so I can relate!
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neb
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# Posted: 25 Apr 2011 09:42pm
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Yep that is so true.
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hattie
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# Posted: 25 Apr 2011 09:58pm
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Before we lived up here full time, whenever we came for a weekend we'd reach a certain spot in the mountains and Hubby would say, "welcome home". *S* I teared up every time he said it and I could just feel the stress of the city drop away. *S* I love cabin living.
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fpw
Member
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# Posted: 25 Apr 2011 10:10pm
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Figure out your project schedule, multiply by 4. Then, enjoy the fact that you probably won't hit that either.
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unixfmike
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# Posted: 27 Apr 2011 09:28am
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Quoting: Ann --Chores that you struggle to motivate yourself to do at home are done without delay at the cabin; some even seem fun. --You can sit at your cabin all day doing virtually nothing, and not feel bored.
Yeah, no kidding. I kind of enjoyed washing dishes by hand after a meal. It was a small sense of accomplishment. I despise washing dishes at home. My kids would sit around all day and wait for it to be time to light a campfire for roasting marshmellows without complaining of being bored. It's definitely time to start the rebuild...
--MikeW
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TomChum
Member
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# Posted: 30 Apr 2011 12:46am
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I like this thread!
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bobrok
Member
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# Posted: 30 Apr 2011 08:08am
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Me too. I thought of something else also that has always been important for me personally, even when vacationing with the family when the kids were little.
Taking a vacation trip or having a getaway cabin is meaningless for me unless you go somewhere where you can't get your local back home TV and radio stations. I always feel "away" when listening to a "foreign" radio station.
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Gary O
Member
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# Posted: 30 Apr 2011 09:57am - Edited by: Gary O
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Ann
This is one of those 'right on' subjects, and a large percentage of the very reason of why a cabin.
Great thought process, Ann.
For me, the trip itself is an important element.
As bob, the drive (240 mi for us) culminates into a conversion of my being. Cabi is usually transformed a couple days before hand (she really knows how to anticipate).
For me, the mind numbing 100 mi freeway drive to lesser towns is my initial mental cool down (to the point of retardation). Then when we turn off the pike at a burg, appropriately named Goshen, my spirit perks up as the mountains loom ahead.
Towns become hamlets, then restaurant-motel-fuel stops, then just mountains.
The last rigor, at this juncture, and any semblance of any sort of regimen being the checking of the gas gauge.
(Ignored the ΒΌ tank reading once. That became, shall we say, 'exciting'.)
But once we are thru the pass, and flatten out into the high desert, fir trees becoming pine, resorts becoming camps or even occasional shanties, my transformation from tension filled desk jockey to cabin dwelling outbacker is complete.
The rest just falls in to place.
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elkdiebymybow
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# Posted: 30 Apr 2011 07:28pm
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Ann-
Great post. Such as many things on your list in life that continues to grow and even though you cross a few things off, you never seem to have everything completed. (Perhaps I'm odd man out, but judging from the rest of you, it is a common thread that we never really get "caught-up").
I've planned on finishing the chinking between the logs at our place for two years now. Bought all the fixin's in 2009 and still haven't gotten things accomplished yet. But, other chores seem to get in the way.... like enjoying an 18 year old Laphroaig single malt scotch over Christmas....
I agree- one can never be bored when just "being" in your cabin.
Thanks for the post!
~Elk
A fine scotch and Christmas bath
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cabingal3
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# Posted: 5 May 2011 05:07am
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Quoting: Ann A cabin is never actually finished.
thanks for this thought! i feel way better now.
and i never get bored there.this is so right on!
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Ann
Member
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# Posted: 6 May 2011 12:01pm
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Here are some of the things I needed to do in the few months after I thought my cabin was finished:
--filter and UV treatment for problem well water
--protection against termites, carpenter ants, carpenter bees etc.
--cutting and stacking branches and brush from trees that were cut to clear a space for the cabin. This will take a while.
--re-filling ruts created in shale road by repeated torrential rains. Thinking about creating water bars.
--dealing with insurance agent and tax assessor
--getting and posting a regulation-size reflective "house number" at the beginning of the road. (Required! I refuse to have a mailbox, though)
--planting some kind of ground cover to stabilize soil.
But I have no regrets, only more plans.
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TomChum
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# Posted: 11 May 2011 01:15am
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Quoting: fpw Figure out your project schedule, multiply by 4. Then, enjoy the fact that you probably won't hit that either.
This brings to mind, Hofstadters Law:
"It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's Law"
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bushbunkie
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# Posted: 11 May 2011 07:45am
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Totally agree Ann and everyone!
Things just seem to fall into place and you gain perspective as you get closer to your cabin.
In my circle of friends...two of us have "cabin life" in common.
The rest aren't the least bit interested...funny how the fact that we use a composting type outhouse completely turns off all the other related potential cabin joys for some people...they can't see past it.
What a bunch of wussies!!!! What would their forefathers think???
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bobrok
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# Posted: 11 May 2011 07:55pm
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Quoting: bushbunkie What a bunch of wussies!!!!
<OT>
I have a friend who WILL NOT bring his big hunking SUV up our road because he doesn't want it to get scratched...his words, not mine.
</OT>
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squirrel
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# Posted: 14 May 2011 02:28pm
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was looking at a toilet seat and a guy next to me said he liked the one I was looking at (had sea shells inbedded in it ) but he didn't think it would fit his toilet told him it didn't matter to me I can building a compost toilet so the shape wasn't a problem he got a look like WHAT then he just walks off funny how people think
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Just
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# Posted: 15 May 2011 09:41am
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Quoting: bobrok get scratched
Just tell him the scratches are back woods racing strips!
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mag162
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# Posted: 23 May 2011 02:40pm
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Great thread guys.
No matter how tough a day at work I have or how many bill collectors calls I field the only thing at the end of the day that takes all of that away is thinking of the cabin and my 2 boys running around the woods.
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Malamute
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# Posted: 5 Aug 2011 11:30am - Edited by: Malamute
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Good post Ann.
I live in mine full time. In periods when work is slow, I never get bored. Some don't understand that, if they don't have tons of things constantly going on they don't deal with it well. The whole area seems to be a bit less high speed than most towns and more settled areas are. One friend commented, somewhat annoyed, that people around the area "have no sense of urgency" about things. Works for me.
Also, have no TV (havent for years), and don't miss it in the slightest. The couple NPR radio stations I get have a lot of different music and interesting stuff on, and are definately different than NPR stations in other places I've been.
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neb
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# Posted: 5 Aug 2011 03:49pm
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Malamute
Sounds like a great life you are living. Living a slower pace would be hard to adjust too for some. It is a pace you get accustomed too and can take sometime to slow down to live like that.
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naturelover66
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# Posted: 5 Aug 2011 05:34pm
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I think your life out west sounds perfect.......... im ready to leave the crime, traffic and pollution..... to name a few.
You are living my dream. Youre very fortunate Malamute.
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trollbridge
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# Posted: 5 Aug 2011 09:15pm - Edited by: trollbridge
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Quoting: Ann --When a storm is forecast, you consider hustling to your cabin before it arrives in hopes of getting snowed in
So very,very true...we did this the first year. We decided what better weekend to go up and cut our family christmas tree. We almost beat the snow, but the roads were pretty bad on the drive up. My husband likes to remind me about how we took "the back way" through the county forest and had no idea it would be so remote. Totally worth the adventure though cause a huge bald eagle flew out of a tree right in front of the windsheild and stayed only about 10 feet in front of us for the longest time. The kids really liked that!
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hot chocolate,yum
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our tree
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