Healing Appalachia: Sustainable Living through Appropriate Technology

18. Retreat Cabin Sites

After 31 years of experimental trial and error, I am finally building my small isolated retreat cabin on an abandoned cleared farmhouse site; this new structure lacks for none of the amenities of modern life. With photovoltaic electricity, passive solar heating, heat storage, passive solar cooling, and my water supplied by rain, all current conveniences are mine without the usual charge. This has been done on my 41.75 acres of forestland in the most diverse, and in my opinion the most awesome, forest in the world. Couple this with the Red River Gorge geological areas . . . it’s like, why have I been so favored? Syl Yunker, Gathering Place: A Permaculture Plantation, Stanton, Kentucky The need for rest and reflection is a basic component of the psychic and spiritual health of all who seek to be Earth-friendly. Those of us who see the importance of a wholesome environment for a good quality of life realize that we need an ecologically sound atmosphere where we can meditate, pray, come into balance with nature, and refresh our souls. We do not deny that some who are forced to sustain their spiritual balance in extreme poverty or in prisons can find peace of soul under extraordinary circumstances. Normally, though, people seek simple places to which to retreat for at least a short period. This is not a luxury for the rich but a necessity for all. Native Americans, South Sea Islanders, Mongolians, Alpine inhabitants —people of every time and place—have sought remote CHAPTER 18 Retreat Cabin Sites retreats. This chapter is directed to those who seek the divine in scenic places devoid of pressures and discordant noises but full of fresh air and sunlight. Our hope is that these ideal places will influence folks to find time to use them. APPALACHIA: AN IDEAL RETREAT Formal retreat places are meant for some people but not all. The mountaineer free spirit is vocal in insisting that a retreat place is important for rest and proper reflection. A rigid, filled schedule does not appeal to such a spirit. And the need for reflection and rest is greater today than in the past because of the unprecedented mobility and stress in our superconnected, informed, and wired populace. In one way the fast-moving modern age is similar to the unsettled conditions of the late Roman Empire, when hermitages grew in popularity in the Egyptian and Syrian deserts and other portions of the Christian world. While that time was certainly a watershed in seeking solitude, throughout the ages and across cultures, solitude-seekers have sought woodlands, mountaintops, lakeshores, or any suitable place to put up a shelter from the elements. We need to see that such places are within the reach of average people and that they can be built and maintained at low cost. Appalachia is blessed with many ideal locations for retreat cabins and is within a day’s drive for about half of all Americans and virtually all easterners. Within these mountains are numerous coves and hollows, hillsides and scenic overlooks, creek banks and lakeshores where people can rest. The cabin does not have to be on the side of a highway or in a developed settlement or equipped with all the amenities. It can be simple, quiet, secluded , and affordable. We focus here on the cabin builder/owner who wants a place away from others, though it may be used by other visitors on occasion. To a lesser degree, this chapter may be helpful to people with access to land that they don’t own but on which they 218 ❖ Healing Appalachia Retreat Cabin Sites ❖ 219 are allowed to establish a simple nonpermanent dwelling—not an affluent person’s second home but a temporary retreat site. Hunters and fishers have their huts, youth have tree houses, and some people have caves and unique rocks where they go just to get away. These favorite spots are sacred spaces, whether in natural or artificial settings. A simple retreat should be within the means of most people who are already landholders. Furnishing such a cabin or place that provides shelter from the elements is an Earth-friendly gesture, because it is the most suitable way for the average person to get close to nature for some period of time. Thus we focus on building at a suitable place, and not on just finding a site and roughing...