Every choice has consequences -- often several levels of them -- and the challenge is to imagine those consequences in advance. This certainly applies to house-building. Less than a year ago, we began building The Cabin at Many Moons. Many choices later, it continues to come alive. The nerves (electrical system) and vital fluids (plumbing) … Continue reading Third-Level Effects
When doing a DIY building project, there's the big stuff and the small stuff. The big stuff is rather fun. It's the small stuff, like finding the right screws, that can drive you nuts. So I've given up, for now, on finding the tiny screws to attach the new knobs to my vanity. The knobs … Continue reading Screw It
It's February, and winter still hasn't "arrived" here on the 47th parallel. I'm back at Camp Many Moons in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, where wild turkeys waddle out of my path and deer bolt across it. I hear coyotes at night and see evidence of a wild kill underfoot. And where is my attention? On toilets … Continue reading Picking Paints, Flushing Toilets
In the 1800s, "raise the roof" meant to make a ruckus. In the 1990s, it was a hit song. But in 2023, on the 46th parallel at Huron Bay, we are literally raising a roof. It's moving right along. The house trusses are all up and sheeting covers them. A weatherproof layer has been added … Continue reading Raising The Roof – Pt. 3
As our nation divided several years ago, an assumption seemed to grow alongside that divide...that you can be an intellectual personal or a practical person but not both. I think you can be both. Henry David Thoreau was both. He's the latest American writer to absorb me while doing the practical cabin-building work at Camp … Continue reading Thinking of Thoreau
For Many Moons 