Reading a book set in Japan, and caught up in the descriptions of the exotic foreign land, my five year old and I decide to plot our own journey there. Because we own our home mortgage-free, and because my husband and I make a living on the residual income from our artistic pursuits without the straight-jacket of a 9-5 work schedule, and because our children don’t attend school and are not bound to that schedule, we are able to plan and pay for the trip, and spend a good three weeks living in that culture.
At last we return to our home, reflecting that as wonderful as Japan is, nothing compares to the four walls of your own home. Only our home doesn’t have walls because it is a yurt comprised of a one-room canvas circle topped by a domed roof and the whole house glows with sunlight each day.
Outside our mountain home is a spectacular view of fiery autumn trees and a sparkling waterfall. All around there are fruit trees heavy with their fall bounty. The air is fresh, and we find ourselves at once invigorated and relaxed, inspired to leap into new artistic endeavors, pursuits of invention, or the swimming hole (respectively).
First, we must unpack from our adventure, and we do so quickly and easily because we have intentionally left the souvenirs in Japan, and didn’t bring many things with us. Drawers and baskets and racks for clean and soiled clothes are age appropriate and easy to manage, so all the children cheerfully dispose of the contents of their bags and quickly become engaged in the activities that have caught their interest. Even the baby seems eager to get to work.
The furnishings around us are sparse, wooden, and handmade by my husband with unique details and embellishments. Toys are wood, cloth, and wool; decorations wax, paper, and wicker. Beds are colorful hammocks, and bedrolls. Because we don’t have many possessions we can afford to spend time or money making or purchasing beautifully embroidered bedspreads and vivid mirrored cushions for seating. Every object is a delight to the senses.
A handmade twelve string rests on a guitar stand, always ready for a musician to pick up and play, but the rest of the instruments are downstairs, in the climate-controlled cellar we dug below the yurt.
There, one wall (hidden by a large tapestry) is painted white to provide a projector screen for when we watch movies. The other walls are hung with artwork. There is a computer that I use for writing and my husband uses for recording music. The kids use it for their own projects as well, and it sometimes gets used for ordering plane tickets for another inspired trip.
There is also a bed because this is mine and my husband’s bedroom where we get to have privacy every now and then to conceive another baby, always testing the famous pronouncement of “the more the merrier.” So far it has held out.
By Diana Rosenfield
www.WrapYourBaby.com
