Day 1

Emerson once said,....something, but in this particular case I should probably be quoting Thoreau...

Henry David Thoreau once said , ".........?"

OK, while I'm sure he said a whole heck of a lot too, I'm not ashamed to say, I have very little working knowledge of what either of these men said.

So...why would I callously refer to names of accomplished American literary icons? Easy, like any adventure, everything is better with PIRATES! Or in this case...iconic quotes at the beginning of any narrated journey, can really draw an audience.

My dad just rolled in his grave a bit, he was a big fan of Thoreau.

So...why are we here? Oh! Sorry, see...I'm about to turn 47, and while I've lived a full life, I have yet to do anything...real...challenging. 

I have for the last 5 years, lived in a singularly spectacular location, in the hills of Sebastopol. I rent a very modest little studio, with a beautiful view of the Santa Rosa flood plain and the mountains beyond. At the height of our last economic recession, I found myself wondering if I shouldn't start to think of a new career field. So, I started to look into solar energy.

I'd purchased and began to tinker with an inexpensive starter kit from Harbor Freight. My online research into the subject led to alternative energy, which naturally led to alternative ways of building homes and living. And that's when I found out about the tiny house movement and Jay Shafer.

This was a bug that bit fast and hard. Suddenly all I could do was search for more information on tiny houses. I can't tell you how many times I watched Jay and his crew build a Fencl on YouTube.

At some point the obsession over tiny house designs gave way to an overriding imperative. I had to build one of these houses!

So...here I am...day 1...well not really day 1 if you count how much obsessing and saving I've done over the last year. But for the sake of having a good base to start with, let's call trailer purchase and delivery day, as DAY 1.

This morning I will be heading on out to Forestville where I will borrow the wisdom of the single most impressive man my mother ever had the good sense to marry...after my dad of course!

From Forestville, Sterling and I are going to drive down to Trailers Plus in Santa Rosa, where I will attempt to haggle them down to an even $3650.00, for this beauty!

All for now...Day 1 8:58AM

Day one, Part 2: I am very tired, I have a severely brutalized bank account, but...I have a beautiful 20' trailer sitting on the property now.

Thanks to the efforts of Seth and his compatriots at Trailers Plus, and of course the immeasurably helpful and patient Sterling, I have completed my first objective.

So much work left to do, but the journey has now truly begun.

Stay tuned!