The Sound of Birds

The Sound of Birds

PREGNANT IN A FOREST I’m 37 weeks pregnant and up at Story Road. Chris, our contractor, and another guy are working on the house today (and it is really looking like a house!). They are working on the trusses: those big triangles that shape the roof. Vincent and...
Wintering

Wintering

WINTERING I am writing to you on January 4th. I’m 22 weeks pregnant and sick with bronchitis, which I got from a recent trip to France. I can’t really complain. Anyone who ends a sentence about getting sick with “a recent trip to France”...
How to Build a House

How to Build a House

PLANS It’s a rainy day here in Buffalo. The temperature is in the fifties. It’s the first day of October. The trees yawn in their morning slumber. My cat meows softly in the background, as he cuddles into a warm blanket that I have on my bookshelf. I have...
Redefining a House

Redefining a House

WHEN A HOUSE IS A HAUS Nearly every day at 3pm, Vincent and I sit down to watch Youtube videos about house construction. We call this “Coffee Construction Hour.” With a homemade latte and slippers on, we watch all sorts of videos. The ones that I find the...
Am I Turning into a Homesteader?

Am I Turning into a Homesteader?

CARHARTT OVERALLS CHANGED MY LIFE I now own a pair of Carhartt overalls. They are orange. I got them for Christmas from my parents. Why did I want these, you might be thinking to yourself? Good question! I wanted them to look cool. Mission accomplished. I also wanted...
Good Country People

Good Country People

We pull up to our new driveway at Story Road. I get out of our little black Mazda. Snow covers the land. It is wonderfully cold here. On the drive, there was not any snow on the lower elevations, so now it feels as if we just stepped through the closet and arrived in...
Pathways

Pathways

When we drive to Story Road, I step out of the car and into nature. Trees loom overhead. There is a fresh, earthy smell.  I always greet the land quietly: “Hello Story Road. We are here.” Then I take my walk up past the Magnolia Tree and around the bend to...
The Power (of) People.

The Power (of) People.

The electricians both wore blue shirts and blue hats. “Hello?” they called out through our thick forest. Vincent and I had been walking in the center of the property, trying to find the spot for the yurt. “We’re right here!” we called...
How To Own a Forest.

How To Own a Forest.

“I am one of those who has no trouble imaging the sentient lives of trees, of their leaves in some fashion communicating or of the massy trunks and heavy branches knowing it is I who have come, as I always come, each morning, to walk beneath them, glad to be...