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Published: August 07, 2022
I have given much thought to my ideal life for quite some time but recently I've thought about it a lot more. I have taken so long to put words to paper because I needed to remove everything that was superfluous and not related to my values or deepest desires and needs. It's also been a struggle to complete this since I don't have my own space where I am able to be truly alone with my thoughts.
When I think about my ideal life there are always two imagined futures. In one future my wife has passed on from some natural cause and not at her own hand while I am left to raise our children. I see me raising kids while living in a tiny house in Montana or somewhere in a remote mountain wilderness.
In the second imagined future, my kids have grown up and are starting to make their own way in the world. While they start to grow on their own I begin my life in a remote wilderness plot of land in my tiny house far away from society and people.
My tiny house is very small and has room for only what is required or essential. Walking through the front door is a small sunken mudroom with a bench for removing shoes and a coat rack on the wall. Opposite the wall coat rack and bench, is a door providing entrance to a very small bathroom containing only a toilet and small sink. This allows for the bathroom to be used without needing to remove shoes when working outside and the urge to get relief by use of the restroom. The small kitchen and dining area are in the center of the house. Exiting the sunken mudroom to the dining and kitchen area, the amenities are very basic. A wooden kitchen table & chairs provides a place to eat, a small table with two chairs for entertaining a guest in conversation sits to the side of the room. The kitchen has a large and deep sink, with ample counter space for preparing basic meals. A large electric induction cooktop provides a surface for cooking.The actual kitchen area itself is small enough to not draw attention from the rest of the space.
To the right of the house, behind the heavy wooden pocket door, is my tiny bedroom measuring 6.6² or 6x9 with room for a small single size bed and 24 inch night table but no more. A fixed reading light is attached in the corner above the bed between two small windows, one at the head of the bed and one along the bed against the wall, covered by heavy velvet curtains and wooden blinds to allow for sleeping in complete darkness. Toward the foot the bed, next to the door way and built into the wall sits an small electric heating element for heat during nights that require it. At the top of the wall, near the roof at the foot of the bed is a tiny mini-split cooling unit for nights that require cooling. A small built-in Armoire type closet next to the pocket door entrance to the master bath provides space for clothing. The pocket door at next to the left of the main bedroom door provides entry to a room with a large bathtub at the end or possibly only a shower, a small sink and mirror sit in the corner by the door, no other needs required. The bed sometimes is replaced with a Japanese Shikibuton on a Tatami mat in my mind but otherwise most often is just a small single bed up against the wall below the windows.
Opposite the bedroom on the other side of the dining and kitchen area is a room behind another heavy wooden pocket door that is filled floor to ceiling with books of personal interest that have been read or will be read numerous times at some point. It size measures the same dimensions of my bedroom and bathroom area combined. In the corner, next to one of the 4 windows covered with heavy velvet curtains, sits a recliner with a reading lamp and a small table. A very small wood stove sits in the center of the room providing ambiance and warmth on cold winter nights.
In the imagined future in which my kids are not yet living on their own, this room would be split to provide built-in bunk sleeping area with a bathroom at the other side of the room in a similar layout to my bedroom. At the end of each bunk would be a small closet for each of the boys wardrobe. Within each bunk is a small bookshelf with a reading lamp. Each bunk has a sliding velvet curtain for warmth and privacy.
Being so far way from society and civilization, the entire house and other property buildings are completely off-grid, served by a combination of wind and solar power and if the environment allows for it, micro-hydro power. All the electrical is either 12 volt or normal 120/240 volt fed by a 24/48v battery system with automatic shut off for lighting to prevent battery drain.
A clean year-round natural water source provides clean water for drinking and cooking. Food is supplied by on-site sources and is self-sustaining, not requiring outside sources for sustenance.
The style of the tiny house would be basic and rustic. From the outside you would think that the cabin belonged to the Beverly Hillbillies before they struck it rich, no frills, just basic design with a front porch and a rocking chair to sit and watch the sunset on. A design that was so simple that the house looked like it belonged where it sat and had been there near a 100 years or more.
The primary mode of transportation would either be a horse and/or a bicycle, with aa truck only being used during the rare times when a return to civilization and society was required or desired.
To keep in contact without outside world and keep up with events I would likely have satellite internet for communication and news updates but it wouldn't be required. Amateur Radio and/or GMRS would provide supplemental communication where needed.
This best describes my ideal life for it's simplicity and being so absolutely minimalist. What sticks out about this is that I don't mention having anyone, aside from my kids, or being in a relationship with any one. I think this is because for me to be my truest self, a relationship is not needed even though I sometimes crave just to be intimate sometimes. It's not a relationship that I crave but just a basic desire to to intimate, have someone close whom I can share between us care, comfort, and emotional sexual release without needing to be in a relationship.
The other reason is likely has to do with being free to live life on my terms without needing to have someone else depend on me or to have to consider someone else's feelings/desires/plans in my quest for a simple life. This might explain the number of failed relationships I have had in the past but I think it is more likely true that I like solitude and being alone but have my moments where I wish to briefly connect with someone for a short time.
It also further supports what I mentioned in my earlier post about death and dying and the desire to live alone. It maybe even provides some further clarity as well.
In all of this thought about my ideal life I'm also trying to reconcile my desire to be minimalist with my passion for computers and technology. There is a part of me that wants to be be free from technology but then there is also a desire to still have a minimal technological presence in my remote time house. However I also desire to reconcile and live so minimally that in the words of Henry Thoreau that I can walk away empty handed if unable to defend my home from society and/or enemy invasion.
It is desirable that a man live in all respects so simply and prepared that if an enemy take the town... he can walk out the gate empty-handed and without anxiety. - Henry David Thoreau
There is an embodiment in me that desires to live that idea to the fullest and live simply in a canvas tent but moisture, mold and mildew would be constant enemies of that life and I worry that my health would be adversely affected over the long term being exposed to such toxins in the canvas after a time. Still though I find myself browsing Pintrest and looking a many civil war tent photos and photos of the various portable campaign furniture thinking about life full time in a canvas tent with all the difficulties that come with it.
Whenever I think about this ideal life two quotes come to mind that help keep me focused on attaining this life. "Do or do not, you will regret both" comes to mind and "If you don't sacrifice for what you want, what you want becomes the sacrifice". Writing about this ideal life down also helps to serve as a reminder of everything I imagine.