A SHACK OUT BACK

This might be fun or it might just be too much work.  Nonetheless, I'll try to document the project in case you've ever thought of this idea.  Might be "like hitting your head on the wall -- feels so good when you stop".

The Back One Acre is full of trees, exclusively pine:  balsam, jack, and Norway.  It's the balsam that are growing up so thick that they get to be skinny poles about seven feet high before they get choked out from lack of sunlight and create an impassable thicket.  Every few months I plug in the electric chainsaw, whack a bunch down, and make a big bonfire; all the while trying not to set the woods on fire.  A few spots where I've done that have opened up for the sunlight to stream in, and grass and wildflowers start to bring new colors to the woods floor.  The trees that remain seem to thrive better too.

My stepson Nels just moved in with us for awhile, and when I floated the idea, he found a small clearing out back that's hidden on all sides from the house and the neighbors.  It looks to be the perfect location for The Shack.  And having some teenage muscles might save on my creaky old bones in the process.  The Idea is not to build an artisan-type cabin.  Just a shack out back made of logs.

I figure about 70 logs, 8 to 10 inches in diameter with minimal tapering, should do the trick.  There's a bunch of big dead trees that fit those specs, each being about 60 or 70 feet tall.  So each one might yield 3 or 4 logs, each 12 feet long.  I'm pretty sure that theory is easier than practice.  But it's all about trial and error and persistence, right?

Stay tuned...