How deep - does the rabbit hole go . . . .: Growing up on a commune

(This is what I looked like when I was 15 - notice the necklace - one of many I would create)

A great deal of my adventures, and really growing up - started when I left home at 15 years old and hitchhiked across the entire West Coast of America. There is a section of this blog (here) that chronicles all the different States, towns and interesting people I met along the way -and the incredible events I experienced - that help shaped and change my life.

In this blog I'll talk a little about the house I built when I was 16 - on the "Other" side of the river from Takilma.

Most all summer activites, and city lookiloue's happened on the road side of Takilma. That is - the road that led into Takilma - was the Takilma "Side" of the river. Most city people never ventured across the river, much less deep into the forest alone. Hence - the other side of the river - was more secluded, and sacred to all the long time residents. I was allowed to claim a small spot to settle down in - to call my own.

(This is what I looked like at 16 - look close you'll see my house windows in the background)

At first, I had help - from a cool guy named Orpheus*. He had already designed a building plan for his own house (I adopted a large part of the plan for my own house, although I added another 10 feet to the downstairs living room- which then made it more of an "L" shaped).

We set off together to first build his house, and then build mine. This would give me time to start scouting a place where I wanted it, and to start gathering up the lumber, windows, etc. I would need.

In Takilma everything was done in barter. I was very creative with my hands, and strong in my back - plus everyone liked me and offered to help when they could - so I knew I would be able to get most of it together.

You need to remember . . . . . this is out in the deep forest . . . . there are no wood boards laying around . . . no nails . . . . nothing like that. Anything that's in the forest- is the forest. Everything has to be brought in . . . . and carried across the river - either by truck (late in the summer only - and ONLY at the ford in the river - downstream a ways) or by hand.

Working together with Orpheus was really a good thing! I learned and discovered a lot from him. He knew of a lumber Mill 40 miles away that sold 1,000 board feet of culled wood (rounded edges sometimes, bark on some edges - really very, very cool stuff!) for $40.00. That was just about all that was needed.

My house Still being built - notice the rounds the foundation sits on - at least 5 hours each to cut them

We spent 3 days going deep into the forest scouting trees to use as our uprights. He taught me how to recognize the different types of trees . . . . fir, pine, redwood, and how to use trees that were already dead - but with many of the top branches still intact - signifying their strength.

We charted our marked trees (with red cloth ribbons) and then began the long hard work of cutting down, and quick skimming off the main branches. We had chosen fir trees - about 6 to 8 inches in diameter - and cut to lengths of roughly 20 feet long. We didn't have chain saws, or any electrical cutters . . . . . out in the woods everything is done by hand. Using a 2 man old time saw (which I learned REAL FAST - DON"T PUSH - just pull!) we cut them all down. 2 days to do it!

Then, like work horses in ropes - began the long arduous task of pulling them down the mountain - all the way to the building location. That took us 3 more days - and a day off!

Front view of my house being built - notice the "H" shape for the upstairs windows (3)

Once we had all the trees at the location - next we had to prepare them - by using an old time tool (I don't remember what it was called) that had just a long SHARP blade in the middle - with a handle on each side. You would straddle the tree, and using the blade - shave off tiny limbs, knots and bark - revealing a nice white under wood surface.