A
hike in the woods on a cold winter’s day has a way of making me feel totally
alive. With invigorating crisp air filtering through every fold of my clothing
and filling my lungs, any thought of tiredness dissolves. Winter and spring at
Nature’s Home has become my husband Jerry and my favorite times of the year. We
hike our trails and work the land without summer’s heat. Four years ago, when we
first moved into the woods, I would not have dreamed this would be
so.
I remember how skittish and frightened I felt at
Nature’s Home after the sun went down and darkness settled in all the cracks and
crevices. Trees turned into dark figures, and the leaf crunching of wild animals
sent chills down my back. Gradually, these fears dissolved as I began to relearn
about and understand the land and it’s creatures. Winter appeared dark, bare and
punishingly cold. Getting used to camp-like living is quite a learning
experience. In the beginning, when we were building the yurts, water system,
gray water pond, composting systems and our storage shed, we were spending 90%
of our waking time outside. We cooked and washed dishes outside in the snow.
When the spring water pipes froze, we were out shaking the pipes and trampling
in icy sluggish water, all for a hot shower or fresh drinking water. I began to
dread the winter.
When I was a child growing up in the
mountains, I’d wake up to icy cold floors and race to the wood stove to warm my
hands and feet. My bath in the metal wash tub behind the stove left my teeth
chattering. Even so, living in the woods fascinated me. Ice crystal trees
and waterfalls frozen into stillness stimulated my young mind to learn more
about nature. The mystery of the billions of life forms I found while exploring,
kept me busy all day. Eventually my curiosity drew me as an adult to college and
universities to study plants, trees, animals and even the human being. My
studies brought me a masters degree in natural science & art and I
became a biological and medical artist. Returning to the woods after 30
years in California, has given me a chance to become a child again. Although now
I can appreciate the hard work that my parents went through to live off the
land. Jerry and
I still spend 90% of our waking hours outside in the woods when we’re
home. "We’ve got the biggest living room of anyone I know," Jerry laughs.
"It’s the whole mountain here at Nature’s Home."
The stars
and sky make a light painted ceiling and the earth a soft mossy carpeted floor.
It is a palace beyond compare. Even the winter shares it’s beauty with us now...
in our home in the woods.
8 foot by 4 foot acrylic
painting - "Nature's Home" by Doreyl Ammons Cain
Jerry and
I still spend 90% of our waking hours outside in the woods when we’re
home. "We’ve got the biggest living room of anyone I know," Jerry laughs.
"It’s the whole mountain here at Nature’s Home."