Narnia, Chapter X

Beauty and the Chronicles of Narnia, the Other

Chapter X

*The Greenhouse*

The next major building project, three years later, was the greenhouse. Since the winters were long and cold, the purpose of a greenhouse was to lengthen the growing season by another three months. Tomatoes still flourished well into October, and hearty kale, well into December. Beauty loved to wash the picked kale in the nearby rain barrel and watch the leaves and tough fibers of the kale turn silver under the water. The contrast with the deep green of the kale fascinated her. How can this be? She remembered this phenomenon many years later while living next to the ocean in California when the full moon hit the nighttime ocean waves in a particular way, creating a moving line of silver effervescence, reminding her of the kale’s magic.

On her monthly dry-food-buying trip to Ashland, the mom  happened upon a cache of double-paned windows for sale, having been removed from the old library before it was demolished. They were only $2.00 each and she bought every one available. The greenhouse was just about ready for windows, as the 10’ by 20’ foot stone foundation had just been completed. Another monument to good timing!

Popsi Blui and Beauty mainly built the structure, which included a storeroom for tools on the back, shaded side. The mom had a full-time job at Telemark Lodge, 15 miles away, and so was away most of the time from this building project, as well as all the other daytime chores required to run the place. Little Sunwood, largely unattended during this period, kept himself entertained in the large bowl by doing what little kids do when left to themselves. No worries about him inadvertently running into traffic on a busy street!

“Cat’s purr, hummingbird whirr.” I diverse, but you may not be aware until now that I slip into poetry in my mind sometimes. Make up stuff in my head. Yes. Fairy sensibilities of which I am quite keen. It’s not that I actually get bored with watching my humans mess about, but, I do have a life, too, after all.

Beauty and Popsi Blui worked well together. This building was an exciting adventure without too much pressure to get it done in a hurry as building the cabin had been. She enjoyed the project, and her dad was happy to be teaching her how to use the tools and all about building procedures. When a little older, she learned wood cutting with a smaller chainsaw, and drove the eventually acquired snowmobile which made hauling groceries, laundry, and drinking water much easier in the winter months. When they bought the four-wheel drive Ford Bronco and somewhat improved the rough road in, carrying trips were made easier, too, when there was no snow to contend with. In the big bowl, Beauty drove that, too, a block of wood attached to her foot in order to reach the gas pedal as Popsi Blui and Sunwood gathered and tossed rocks into the attached trailer bed. These were used for the greenhouse foundation and stem wall foundation.

How many kids get to learn these particular life skills at such a young age? Beauty has always been appreciative of these experiences and has been able to use the confidence she developed during her childhood in order to try new things. She learned perseverance as well. What many people would consider to be hardships, this little family simply accepted the “inconveniences” as a natural part of life and dealt with them accordingly. If ever the world became such a place where substance living became a necessity, these individuals would be ahead of many in dealing with it. Because of the unique opportunities in learning skills which many consider tobe “lost” in today’s world, each family member was privileged to be part of this experiment in alternative living.

Today, there are movements toward “off the grid living,” and many inventions, including solar panels, lithium batteries, and modern drilling for water, have made a return more viable.

(In these pictures from ten years ago during a clandestine visit to the land since they no longer owned it, the greenhouse had been converted into a hunting lodge, the field, still lush. Most windows had been reconfigured, and the far side removed completely to allow for what looked like a deer-hanging pole.)