Whatever you call it, it is an adventure. Let me tell you about it. At the end of June some friends texted to ask if we wanted to buy their cabin. Because they are lovely people, and because the cabin is unfinished and has been empty and unused for six or seven years, they offered it to us for an astounding and generous price. We couldn’t say no, and okay we didn’t really want to say no. I have always wanted a cabin.
It needs a lot of work, so we talked with all our children to ask if they would help. We are inveterate DYIers, but this is a big project–one we didn’t feel we could do on our own. Once we got their buy-in, we bought a cabin!
Now, the plywood floors and the exposed stud and insulation walls–those are easy fixes. But years ago our friend decided to dig out under the cabin and make a basement. Two walls were in, but the rest of the cabin sat on jacks.
So, this is our project now. And I must say it’s coming along really well, and our children have been incredibly helpful. And can I just say, I love going to the cabin– even though the work is back-breaking and the conditions are a little rough (the bathrooms work and there are beds, so it’s not like we’re camping), but it is not luxury in any sense of the word.
But there is just something about stepping out of the car and taking that first breath of pine scented air. I hear the breeze through the trees and I feel a weight just lift off my shoulders. I think it’s because even though it (the work) is hard, life is simple there. And I don’t know why that is. We still have our phones. We still have our work responsibilities, but they just don’t seem as heavy up in that thinner air (8600 feet altitude).
And I dream. I dream of days of quiet when I can sit on a deck in the cool mountain breeze and write uninterrupted. It’s a ways away, but that dream rests lightly in the back of my mind.
So, I want to ask, do you have a place–a retreat where you can write? I know the daily habit is necessary (and I am working on that), but sometimes don’t you just want to get away and really write? I’d love to hear about your retreats. Or are you, like me, still working on creating that retreat.
Here’s hoping that creating your retreat doesn’t involve this much hard physical labor. But if it does, keep the dream alive.