It’s been a long time since either Mark or I have written a blog post. That’s mostly because life has been very busy. And as we look forward to another build season, the excitement for time at the cabin grows. Even as we think ahead to what we might accomplish this year, I find myself reflecting on the ordinary miracles of last year.
We have water in the cabin! Our plumbing isn’t quite finished yet (soon!), but the well is functioning and we can fill the pressure tank that sits in the basement. We tap the water through a faucet at the tank and one outside the cabin. It was so amazing to me to be able to go to the outside faucet and fill a bucket (we were tiling the bathroom), rather than hauling it from the lake.
The second ordinary miracle is electricity! We have a solar system, whose intricacies I will never understand. But I can flip a switch and lights come on. Small, ordinary, miracles!
We take for granted water and electricity - elements nature provides for us. It’s a privileged, first-world luxury to take these things for granted. And after 15+ years of carrying water with us (or pumping it from the lake) and reading by lantern, flashlight, or candle (and working via loud generator), I pray I will never take for granted the gifts of water and electricity. Indeed, we’ve been so accustomed to their absence that we forget their presence. The first weekend Mark turned on the solar system, I came into the basement and found him crawling on the floor, in the dark - a flashlight his only illuminating source. I asked him what he was doing - it wasn’t a question of why was he crawling around on the floor, but rather why was he in the dark? His response clearly spoke to the former interpretation of the question, and I said, “might this help?” and flipped the light switch!
Walking from our old tiny cabin (that we lovingly call “the shack,”) to the cabin we’re building, I often catch myself stopping to marvel at the dwelling that now stands quietly in the middle of the forest. I marvel at a human’s ability to build a dwelling. It’s been important to Mark to build something that will stand the test of time. To make that happen, he likes to over-engineer, and I appreciate that (for example, our roof system can withstand hurricane-force winds, just in case we were to ever have a hurricane?!).
It’s important to both of us to be gentle on the land and our environment. This past year, we installed the hardwood flooring throughout the main floor of the cabin. Mark just finished it during a winter trip up a couple weeks ago. We chose reclaimed hardwood flooring that was removed from a barn somewhere in Wisconsin. It’s minimally processed, as attested to by the chicken or bird poop still on its surfaces (that will be removed during a light sanding this spring)! Not only do I like the rustic look of it, but also I appreciate the care many hands took to dismantle an old structure in order to put its parts back into the world.
When I catch myself reflecting on the cabin that now stands quietly in the middle of the forest, I marvel at the ordinary miracle of humankind working with nature to create something that can co-exist and provide every basic human need. As I look forward to this summer, I know we are in for more ordinary miracles and I can't wait to experience them! |
| Perhaps another ordinary miracle - actually taking time out to play, which we did some of last year! This is me, MK, with a friend - my sister's lifelong bestie, Karen. It was an ordinary miracle that she and her husband Tom showed up at our place, having found it with little direction! |
