| One of the great advantages, and the great | | | | while they are grazing at the other. But we have |
| disadvantages of living in a yurt in the backwoods is | | | | discovered that deer will flee at distant dog barking |
| that you are put into intimate contact with nature. | | | | almost as readily as at a nearby one, but that they |
| That's nature, as in skunks strolling by; the occasional | | | | don't give a darn if a raccoon passes within feet. |
| black bear helping himself to your Canada plums, and | | | | Mosquitoes have also claimed their time of day and |
| then leaving a deposit to remind you that he visited; | | | | seasons. They seem to follow close on the heels of |
| coyotes forgetting that you have to work the next | | | | the 504 wood ticks that I picked off my arms, legs, |
| day and singing you to sleep at 4 a.m.; squirrels that like | | | | neck, hair, feet, etc. this spring. In turn, black flies claim |
| your tarpaulin shelter so much they decide to store | | | | the heat of the day, and wasps or hornets usurp the |
| their winter dinners in the flaps of the tarpaulins. | | | | late August afternoons. |
| But, as challenging or exciting as these visits may | | | | Paramount in the list of advantages, for me, is the fact |
| sound, the experience of living, day after day, in this | | | | that I have only had to mow the grass around the yurt |
| pristine setting highlights the beauty of a minimal | | | | three times this year, to keep the bugs at bay. Nature |
| footprint in the environment. | | | | is much more attractive than a groomed lawn, |
| We have discovered that there are more than 35 | | | | anyway! |
| varieties of birds just in the 10 acres immediately | | | | We have also learned, though, that rain in a tent |
| surrounding our home. There are songbirds, waterfowl | | | | imparts a feeling of peace and solitude, while heavy |
| and predator birds, to list a few. We have learned | | | | rain drumming on the heavier, larger drum skin roof of |
| many of their calls, and what each call signifies. We | | | | a yurt sounds like you are living under a waterfall, and |
| have learned the feeding & flying schedules of our | | | | instills an anxiety that the roof will not withstand the |
| daytime, dusk and nocturnal feathered friends. The | | | | beating. It does, of course. |
| resident sapsucker does his best Buddy Rich drum | | | | Living in a yurt is about listening, not just to the sounds, |
| imitation on the cowling of my old Cockshutt tractor, | | | | but to the heartbeat of nature around you, and the |
| just because it makes more noise than drumming on a | | | | pulse of the seasons. It is about capturing each |
| tree. | | | | moment in your emotional database, and knowing that |
| We have discovered that white-tailed deer acclimatize | | | | you are not the custodian of your environment: you |
| quickly to the human presence, and will actually ignore | | | | are a part of it. Nothing more, nothing less. |
| us if they are at one end of our long, narrow garden | | | | |