The Shack

A few years ago, actually eight years ago, I build this shack. This is, as my wife says, what happens when you don't build enough forts as a child.

It's a simple structure, 12 x 16' because I wanted to create as little waste as possible. The total waste from this structure filled one and a half wheelbarrows, except for the gable ends, which created two large triangles of OSB that I could not use anywhere else. The windows were recycled from a cabin that burned down, the stovepipe likewise. The wood stove was the little Upland we used heating our old home.

The best thing about the shack is its proximity. It's 60 feet from our back door, our little cabin in the woods that we can visit without burning any gas.

This week is our anniversary (24 years) and we were going to go camping for the weekend, but the thunderstorms and high winds convinced us otherwise. Instead, we went camping in The Shack.


Lofts are essential components of any good shack, and sleeping lofts are the sine qua non—you stay warmer longer as the heat rises in cooler weather, and with a door cracked and the loft window cracked in the summer you get a nice flow through of air such that air conditioning is totally unneeded.

So we went camping last night.

I really like camping.

Especially with a shackmate like this one.