photo: it was a yurt exactly next to the sea. blue well-seasoned vinyl, it sat on a plywood and 2×4 platform among hemlock, spruce, and alder, the bed was a futon, there was no running water or electricity, waking up each morning in any degree of semi-darkness meant opening my eyes to stare back at the thousands of glowing spider eyes scattered across the ceiling, drawn by a rotting spruce and harmless. The shower was outside at the base of a tree wider than a truck, its canopy high overhead, a propane instant-on water heater, and a plank floor, the water provided by a simple rain catch and a whole lot of pvc coming from the high-spot, forced along by gravity. But the best part was the tiny slice of rocky beach just in front, where picking the spot for the fire was important enough, depending on tide stage, so it would self-extinguish at just the right time.
