cabin fever

I don’t know if all of you have seen Linda Aldredge’s treehouse yet but hurry up and visit the slideshow at Domino before it too is closed.

Looking at the treehouse photos again (Linda’s is to the left) makes me long for my own land on which to build a small, woodsy retreat. I’ve been on and off pining for something like it for years. At this point, the idea is only a dream but it’s fun to get lost in a fantasy, right?

Back in September some friends and I drove to Alleghany County, about an hour or so from Buffalo, and stayed the night at Jen’s Uncle’s cabin. The property included a one-bedroom log-cabin with a giant living room and a nice front porch, as well as a little sleeper cabin a ways up the hill. There was also a pond full of leeches and a platform off which Steve and Sean fished.

The little sleeper cabin, pictured at right, added to my retreat-obsession. I’ve imagined a cabin totally

devoted to my writing practice–books on the wall, a Southern-facing window, a quiet view. I’ve imagined a small but sufficient weekend house for my non-existent children and me. I’ve imagined some version of this in my non-existent backyard.

Since I see myself living the next couple decades in a city, I don’t think a backyard treehouse or writing cabin is really an option (do you like how seriously I’m considering this “fantasy?”). I think the realistic option would be to buy property in Alleghany County and build my dream from scratch. Like Linda Aldredge and her treehouse.

Sigh, dreams.

Anyway, I’m going to find Michael Pollan’s A Place of My Own at the library and stoke the fires of my obsession a bit more.

How about all of you? Anyone out there want to share their dreams of a cottage by the sea or a cabin in the woods?