Yurts

On the forty-second page of “Yurts: Living in the Round” author Becky Kemery wrote (emphasis added):

hears only birdsong and human conversation, the sound of an axe falling on firewood, and crooked knives hollowing out wooden spoons and bowls.

Bill Coperthwaite lives on this gentle, forested land, held in the embrace of the sea, in a house that resembles a multitiered mushroom or some extraordinary intergalactic wooden spaceship from a universe far away.

In addition to his professional path of educator, Bill is also designer, philosopher, anthropologist, community builder, backwoodsman, and imagineer. He lives and teaches simplicity as a radical reinvention of life. By example, he challenges each observer to pause in the rush for material gain, listen for a moment to the natural world, and learn from indigenous people&mash;from both their crafts and technologies and their practice of carving out a life in harmony with the natural world.

The woodland trail ends at Bill's back door, just past an elevated food storage yurt and tiny outhouse yurt. The bottom floor of Bill's yurt holds five years worth of firewood, neatly stacked. Bill cuts the wood with an axe and bow saw nearly every day; this way the task is never arduous and he keeps his pile continually stocked.

Crossing the yurt, one steps up into a workshop that smells of earth and wood shavings. Hand tools are within reach and neatly organized. Work stools, a hammock, and a glassed-in reading nook complete the picture of a shop dedicated to handwork and enveloped in comfort and warmth.

Stairs lead up to a second floor that is completely encircled with windows, displaying a panoramic view of the world. Living spaces are delineated by the furniture they contain. Curvaceous shelves filled with wooden bowls and mugs define the kitchen

More information about “Yurts: Living in the Round” (and the book itself) is available from:

• Amazon.com
• Powell's Books
• Barnes & Noble

(Gibbs Smith Publishers, October 2006. Paperback, 146 pages. ISBN: 1586858912; EAN: 9781586858919.)

Comments

[becky kemery]

michael, thanks for including my book on your blog. what a great idea!

Readers interested in yurts might want to check out my website at www.yurtinfo.org and blog at www.livingintheround.net.

Thanks again. Wishing you the very best,

becky kemery
Author of "YURTS: Living in the Round"
www.yurtinfo.org
www.livingintheround.net