Lifting The Roof Off The House

Far too many times Marilyn and I have had to honker down in a windstorm named Hurricane. It's not fun at all, although I can't say there isn't some extreme exhilaration associated with it. And of primary concern is whether or not the roof of your precious home will in fact stay attached to the rest of the house. And subsequently whether you will be able to remain inside the place should the roof get ripped off. So it was with great interest that we waded feet first into the Log and Timber Home Expo- where taking the roof off (the models on display) is one of the best ways to get a look inside the offerings of the many different home types and company products being shown.

This Expo is held just outside Washington, DC. Chantilly, Virginia to be specific, and this is one of the largest such shows in the country. We've seen a lot of log cabins on our travels about the country and admittedly are drawn to them. They're casual. They're comfortable. They're rugged. And by tweaking the design a bit they can be made to "fit in" just about anywhere with reasonable parameters, of course. I've done a wee bit of building and tinkering on other types of homes we have lived in, but the only most minute experience I've had with log cabin construction has been as Mr. Mike's helper at Chicken Gold Camp in Alaska when he was putting up a 12 X 12 (or there abouts) primitive cabin to serve as a museum addition to the gold camp property. It was a fascinating experience for me. The building went up very fast with minimal hassle. The rapid progess was its own reward and it didn't seem all that difficult a structure to build. We were ready for the ridge pole installation when the season came to a close and I was sad to leave without seeing the whole process through, but it starting me thinking more directly along the lines of building the real deal at some point....and so here we are. Planning and what-iffing only for now. Manufacturers and contractors would all like to know where we intend to build. Good question! For now there is no answer---but it is always important to define the questions before they need an answer anyhow. And when might you build? Another good one! We are in the 5th year of a 5 year plan. The other 5 year plans all began and ended pretty close to their appointed deadline , but this traveling thing has worked out really well and is a lot of fun. Why ruin a good thing?..... he asked rhetorically. There are still places to go and things to see (and, yes, gold in them thar hills). But it would seem that sooner or later the need for roots and a life a bit more predictable will reassert itself. And then, as they say, we shall see what we shall see. For now, the investigation of the next somewhere-down-the-road-five-year-plan is quite fun as a stand alone project. We are learning things we might otherwise not ever have known we needed to know. (Huh?) Knowledge is good. Experience is good. Put the two together and ya might actually have something!