Right now I am sitting in my apartment, eating all the chocolate in the fridge and finding some more stashes elsewhere. I have my cats and my mom and my ER re-runs, and a few more hours of Spring break left. All is well, and I like to plan during this time because I hope this project will be equally enjoyable in a completely different sense. To clarify, "this" project is one I dearly hope to undertake in the near future; it is the construction of an earthbag house, and eventually a small farm.
All I have so far is a tiny plot of land and an overly-maintained Pinterest board. I don't even know if we have a way onto the land; we might be land-locked and I don't know how to drive, and I don't even have a clear idea of what the plot looks like. Whoops. This is not for lack of planning. I spent a long time compiling the tax maps of the Delaware River area, and we decided that our land is the best for us, regardless of the rumored rogue bears.
In a few months, we will probably hijack our friends, their car, and their driving abilities and drive "upstate-ish" to sort out the property issues, and then we will stop trying to find the public embankment nearest our property, so that we could float upstream on a hand-made pontoon and avoid the struggles of trespassing. As much as I appreciate impromptu stream raids, it would be nice to feel like I actually have a right to the land.
Here are my hopes: I hope that when I fall asleep there will be that buzzing silence, or at least the whisperings of a tired forest. I hope to get away from the 3am motorcycle parade, the sound of a commuter bus pulling up to the first exhausted crowd, my stupid upstairs neighbors and their illegal construction work, and the general din of the FDR Drive. Yes, I live on a NYC highway, you can maybe see why I'm going for a quite respite in the woods. I want distance from my gentrified childish memories and their concrete buildings, and I want to be as far away from the Upper East Side as humanly possible, though lot 167 ought to do. I want to wake up after it has rained in April and walk around, and then in December I want to watch snow fall from inside while drinking Spanish hot chocolate next to a rocket stove with my friends. I want to listen to Nancy Sinatra while I "tidy up" (no more shoving it all in closets and under the bed...), and I want to build a really messed-up interactive haunted house. Finally, I hope this project will make me appreciate everything my lovely city has to offer, like really good Indian food and kindly drunk people, while buffering its occasional banality.
And what would a first post be without a proper display of my Manhattanite biases; here is a list of fears I have, pray for me.
All I have so far is a tiny plot of land and an overly-maintained Pinterest board. I don't even know if we have a way onto the land; we might be land-locked and I don't know how to drive, and I don't even have a clear idea of what the plot looks like. Whoops. This is not for lack of planning. I spent a long time compiling the tax maps of the Delaware River area, and we decided that our land is the best for us, regardless of the rumored rogue bears.
In a few months, we will probably hijack our friends, their car, and their driving abilities and drive "upstate-ish" to sort out the property issues, and then we will stop trying to find the public embankment nearest our property, so that we could float upstream on a hand-made pontoon and avoid the struggles of trespassing. As much as I appreciate impromptu stream raids, it would be nice to feel like I actually have a right to the land.
Here are my hopes: I hope that when I fall asleep there will be that buzzing silence, or at least the whisperings of a tired forest. I hope to get away from the 3am motorcycle parade, the sound of a commuter bus pulling up to the first exhausted crowd, my stupid upstairs neighbors and their illegal construction work, and the general din of the FDR Drive. Yes, I live on a NYC highway, you can maybe see why I'm going for a quite respite in the woods. I want distance from my gentrified childish memories and their concrete buildings, and I want to be as far away from the Upper East Side as humanly possible, though lot 167 ought to do. I want to wake up after it has rained in April and walk around, and then in December I want to watch snow fall from inside while drinking Spanish hot chocolate next to a rocket stove with my friends. I want to listen to Nancy Sinatra while I "tidy up" (no more shoving it all in closets and under the bed...), and I want to build a really messed-up interactive haunted house. Finally, I hope this project will make me appreciate everything my lovely city has to offer, like really good Indian food and kindly drunk people, while buffering its occasional banality.
And what would a first post be without a proper display of my Manhattanite biases; here is a list of fears I have, pray for me.
- 1) Serial killers mostly live in wooded areas with low populations.
- I actually bought a serial killer's body deposit land and I will find the corpses and then get stabbed for knowing too much.
- Maybe it will be worse than a stabbing...
- My cats are not outdoor cats and how will I keep them safe???
- Ghosts
- The entire plot is filled with bear traps and I will step in one.
- I will get mauled by a bear.
- Multiple bears.
- The Dark.
- I will get shot by hunters.
- I will get shot for trespassing.
- There is a murderous cult nearby.
- Lyme disease, food poisoning, mushroom poisoning, rabies, dehydration.
- Natural disasters.