I just finished reading Woodswoman by Anne LaBastille. Published in 1976, this book was hard for me to put down. It is an autobiographical recounting of one woman’s life living alone in the Adirondack wilderness in a cabin that she mostly built with her own hands. Coming off of a divorce from a man she was married to for seven years, she decided that the solitary life amongst nature was her calling.
She bought some acreage in the Adirondacks and with the help of a couple of local carpenters, she built a tiny cabin that had no electricity or plumbing. The book chronicles her first years in the cabin, detailing her daily life and how she not only coped with the hardships, but welcomed them and thrived.
Anne did have the occasional visitor to the cabin; however, the only way in was across the lake by boat until snowmobiles came along a few years later. She lived primarily only with the companionship of her German Shepherd, Pitzi. Due to the lake freezing 2-3 feet deep in the winter, those winter months were often very lonely. It really illustrated the meaning behind cabin fever.
I am not sure what impresses me most: building her own cabin, enduring the bitter cold winters in sparse living quarters, or the constant solitude. Yes, I am a confirmed dog person and I realize that Pitzi was a cherished companion…it’s just that sometimes one needs the reassurance of other human beings near.
Anne became a fierce proponent of the preservation of the Adirondacks as time went by. She died in 2011. If you are interested in the great impact she had on her beloved Adirondacks, please take a look at this article in The Adirondack Explorer. In fact her cabin was designated to be relocated to the Adirondack Museum, that article is here.
While I live in a cabin in the woods as well, that is certainly where the similarities stop. It is not lost on me that I read her book in my comfy little reading nook with a throw across my legs because the air conditioning was a bit too cold here in the midwest in August. Oh, and don’t forget that electric light that enables reading anytime I wish. Half guilty and half thankful, I vow to do more to preserve the environment.
I feel as if I am boiling this book down too much. There is a great amount of detail in it and it is worth the read if this topic is your thing. It is the first in a series of four. I am looking forward to reading the rest of them.
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