North Idaho – March 2006

Building a Cabin

In 1997, I built a cabin. I’m not sure exactly why I built it. It was a spur of the moment decision. My daughter Heidi and I were visiting the USA from Korea, and our flight back got delayed for two weeks. We had two weeks to pass, so we decided to use our time building a cabin on our land in Northern Idaho. We gave ourselves ten days to do the job. It was a tight chedule, but I’ve never been one to let the grass grow under my feet.

First we selected the location on a remote piece of mountain land we own. We used my bulldozer to push a small clearing in the trees.

I used a sledge hammer, a chain saw, a measuring tape, a drill, a crescent wrench, a chain, and a bulldozer to build the cabin. I cut down select trees and took them to a nearby mill to be sawed into planks. Most evenings I worked until my hands got too shaky to hold the boards and pound nails.

 I worked from dawn until dusk everyday, assisted by young but eager Heidi.

We finished it in ten days, and slept in it the last night.

We came back the next year to see it.

Our Cabin – 1998

Then I let the grass grow beneath my feet, but only for a while.

Our Cabin – January 2006