Candlelight and sunset over Frost Mountain and the Green Mountain National Forest. For over 20 years I lived by candle and kerosene lamp light. It takes about 15 candles to equal one 40-watt bulb! I finally installed two solar panels myself, and was able to run 12-volt lights, a small Engel refrigerator (cold beer!), and a laptop.
The off-the-grid (no electricity) log cabin that I hand built and lived in for over 15 years. There is also no running water, which means hauling water, heating it on the wood stove and bathing outside, even in the winter, even when it's 10 F. This was okay in my 20's, but got painful as the years passed. I finally built a little solarium/shower room off the wood shop.
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Simple pleasures - an old clawfoot bathtub turned into a wood-fired hot tub next to the swimming/trout pond. Just add water and build a fire beneath the tub for hours of outdoor bathing pleasure. For many years I had a cedar hot tub with a submersible Snorkel wood stove next to the tipi. Yes, I had no electricity or running water, but I had a hot tub outside my tipi! You can have some luxuries when you rough it. I even had a land-line phone running into the tipi, because there was no cell service. If I had to chose between electricity, running water or a phone, I'd chose a phone. The other two I can do without, but smoke signals don't work well for arranging business or keeping in touch with friends.
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The foal (Zuma) of the Percheron draft horse (Carla) that I hauled logs
from the forest with to build my log cabin. Zuma grew to be a huge horse, but
he was very gentle, unlike his mother, who was hot blooded. Carla actually dragged
me several times, on my belly, when I was trying to teach her, and myself, how
to horse log. I knew that if I let go of the driving reins and let her get away
with bolting, she'd be ruined. Her third attempt was her last, and we pulled
the rest of the logs without incident or injury.
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Down the Rabbit Hole - heating with wood in
Vermont is a part time job. In the winter, the downstairs floor could be 38
degrees while the sleeping loft upstairs was almost 100 F. Sitting close to the.
700 degree wood stove with a good book is a favorite winter pastime, as
blizzards swirl just beyond the windows.
My cabin sits on 30 acres of old farmland surrounded by 7,000 acres of the Green Mountain National Forest. Lots of privacy, solitude and wildlife. Bear eat fallen, fermented apples in the orchard and get drunk. Moose, river otters and great blue herons visit the pond. Owls and coyotes hoot and howl at night. Porcupine chew on tool handles for salt, sounding like giant mice. Bobcat hide deep in the woods, and there are even occasional sightings of wolves and mountain lions in the area.
Despite
all the time spent chopping firewood and carrying water, there IS a little time
left over for flowers. But not much. I figure living this lifestyle is a 1/3
time job - splitting wood, hauling water and wood, keeping the fire going
during long Vermont winters, growing food, taking care of horses, chickens,
turkeys, cats and dogs. But it was peaceful and satisfying, for the most part.
Until the urge to travel and explore start to creep in . . .
