Cindy Ross - Log Cabin Years

Praise for
T HE L OG C ABIN Y EARS

With The Log Cabin Years, Cindy Ross has joined an elite order of wilderness homesteading writers that would include Helen and Scott Nearing (Living the Good Life), Richard Proenneke (One MansWilderness), Allan and Mary Mackie (Building With Logs), Calvin Rutstrum (The Wilderness Cabin), Helen Hoover (A Place in the Woods), and Anne LaBastille (Woodswoman). Making use of warm, often humorous anecdotes, Ms. Ross gently inquires, in effect: Why would anyone want to pilot the complex, arduous process of constructing a permanent dwelling of whole logs? This begs the question of relationship dynamics: How will a married couple with a handful of occasional volunteer helpers successfully get along with one another during the long, stressful period it takes to complete such a daunting undertaking? Among the many practical, helpful tips included in the book is this gem: The skills you learn while navigating your relationship will mean just as much to your future happiness as a solid, beautiful home. I predict that The Log Cabin Years will stand out as a classic in the American back-to-the-land literary genre of the late twentieth century.

R ON B RODIGAN , log house building teacher, restoration consultant

The Log Cabin Years is one part how-to and two or three parts why and wherefore and wow. In this truly captivating read, we get a sense of the setbacks, the trials, the tribulations, and the deep, enduring satisfaction of building your own homea home that fits the Thoreauvian ideal of a life welllived. Working with her husband Todd, Ross discovers that building a log cabin turns out to be a training ground for marriage and a life together, one sawed, peeled, and hoisted log at a time. Among the books many attractions are Rosss lovely and detailed drawings as she literally sketches in all the steps of the building process. Its a pleasure all its own, as rich as the pleasures of the text itself, to follow the story told by the sketches in the book until the cabin, taking shape job by job, emerges by books end as a main character, evolving from hopeful idea to house to home.

I AN M ARSHALL , author of Walden by Haiku and Story Line: Exploring the Literature of the Appalachian Trail; editor of Reading Shavers Creek: Ecological Reflections from an Appalachian Forest

At the heart of this engaging biography of building a log cabin from raw trees is a couple daring to live the life they imagined for themselves. Ross skillfully includes the reader in this unconventional journey through writing that touches both the senses and the heart. She pragmatically explains the daily challenges of the project while at the same time nurturing a vision of living more connected to place, living lighter on the planet, and with more intent. The Log Cabin Years is an excellent read for anyone searching for insight on how to build a more simple and sustainable life. What resonates most in this inspirational story, however, is recognizing the human capacity to accomplish the seemingly insurmountableone step, or log, at a time.

G RACE L. C OGGIO , PhD, associate professor and sustainability fellow at University of Wisconsin-River Falls

Creating a life as a married couple entails more than building a house together, or a log cabin in this case. But its a good place to start as there might be no better way to get to know who youre planning to spend the rest of your life with than dealing with your partners cranky exhaustion or annoyingly can-do optimism as you figure out how to get honest-to-god five-ton trees up the slope to the building site. While working a full-time job. And pregnant. Taking breaks only to do 2,000-mile hikes to remind yourself you can start big projects and see them through to the end. If this sounds daunting, it is. But the resulta magnificent, magical 2,500-square-foot home which is sturdy enough to withstand an earthquake and contain and nurture four creative livesis worth it. I have a confession: the story made me cry. Not because Todd and Cindy occasionally brawledI knew they would figure things outbut because its a heroic story of a young couple taking a chance on a life that would be worth living for them, not a life that others prescribed. Cindy provides notes and tips at the end of each chapter, which are useful if youre inspired to build a log cabin yourself, but the real tips are in the story of how they found the will and the courage to be electrically alive on this planet.

B ATHSHEBA M ONK , author of Nude Walker

Reading The Log Cabin Years was an inspirational joy. Establishing their own interpretation of Helen and Scott Nearings Living The Good Life, Cindy and Todd erected a living monument to their love and shared values. Their roots are strong; their soil is fertile; and the fruits of the magnificent tree they have planted and nourished over three decades represent a modern-day taste of sweet simplicity and healthy effort. The world needs their story now and I believe it will become a classic in the literature of sustainabilityboth physical and spiritual.

W ARREN D OYLE , PhD, founder/director, Appalachian Folk School

In a world that is wrought with consumerism and materialistic lifestyles, The Log Cabin Years is a refreshing reminder that happiness can be found through our experiences and relationships with others rather than through money and power.

A LICIA S PROW , PhD, associate director for sustainable communities, Alvernia University

Many dream of adventure. Some plan for and set out on adventures. A few even occasionally manage to have one. Then theres Cindy Rosswho is adventure. In her latest booka housebuilding, marriage-making, child-rearing, life-living how-toRoss shares the adventure in exquisite and revelatory detail. With high energy and deep spirit, she grabs our hands and invites us along. She insists we all hang out and hew a log or two (or twenty) before having a sweat in the sauna and hatching a new escapade: long-distance wilderness trekking with toddlers, anyone?

M ARYALICE Y AKUTCHIK , author and editor

I have read several books about building log homes. The Log Cabin Years is more than just a how-to book on log-home building. Cindy Ross discusses in detail and with great sensitivity and humanity the range of emotions she and Todd experienced as they designed and built their log home on twelve wooded acres in rural Pennsylvania. Any individual or couple thinking about building their log home would be wise to consider the emotional aspects of such an undertaking and read The Log Cabin Years before they get started.

D ANIEL N ELLIS , lifelong experiential educator and woodworker

Praise for

THE WORLD IS OUR CLASSROOM

A love of the natural world and an understanding of our place in it are vital for humanity and all other life. Knowing we are part of nature and not outside it is vital for the future. The importance of this comes across strongly in The World Is Our Classroom. Ross taught it by doing rather than telling. Experience rather than theory. This is a book that shows just what is possible, a book that gives hope for the future.

C HRIS T OWNSEND , award-winning author of Out There: A Voice from The Wild

School teachers are largely bound by classroom walls and the Internet; parents have no such constraints. As Cindy Ross reveals in The World Is Our Classroom, the unbounded opportunities in nature should inspire every parent to create memories and powerful experiential learning opportunities. Significant emotional encounters can be transformative. When children are allowed to explore, and use their curiosity to discover the seemingly magical things in nature, it changes them as no passive learning can. In this rapidly changing world, we must foster a love of nature in every child as they must soon confront profound ecological disruption and play a vital role in restoring, replenishing and relocating elements of biodiversity to retain some aspect of system integrity upon which all life depends.