While looking back through photos that I need to edit and organize I came across some ‘unpublished’ photos from our vacation in Eastern Oregon last Spring. I thought you would enjoy seeing this little, old home on wheels that was in a small town we visited.
This little ‘mobile home’ was the forerunner of our modern-day camp trailers, I’m sure. This was home to a sheepherder and his dogs. I can’t imagine living here through the icy cold winters of that part of the country. Or any other time, for that matter.
Looking inside, it’s hard for me to imagine spending much time here but I’m sure it was a refuge from the long days of hard work and weather conditions that went from below zero to well above one hundred degrees in the summertime.
As I stood there and looked at everything inside, I wondered how safe this little place was when the fire was stoked and the lantern was lit. No windows, a single door, no modern comforts at all – but it was home!
I wondered if the little table became a writing desk – for a letter to a sweetheart, or a journal of adventures or a business ledger of some kind.
And I appreciated the hard work, the long hours and the sacrifice someone had made to make a living and to provide wool and meat and all kinds of things unknown for himself and others. As I left that day and headed back to my nice, comfortable, little cabin-on-wheels I had a new appreciation for the things I have that make life so much easier and fun and comfortable. I am blessed with more than many others have had in the past. And now. I am blessed! And I am grateful.
With A Grateful Heart,
~Adrienne~
Wow, I can't even imagine that wood burning stove in a wooden trailer, and it looks like so much stove for such a small space. Still, it does look cozy and at the end of the day it would sure beat laying out in the cold. Wouldn't you love a new one of these to fix up and make cute? Like a gypsy caravan?!
ReplyDeleteIt is tiny and primative but I think it was probably a welcome place at the end of the day. I enjoyed this post :)
ReplyDeleteIt looks very cozy and just the place to seek shelter for a man and his dogs...sheep hearding has always been a lonely life, but in some ways probably a very satisfying one. Thank you for sharing this fascinating place.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing to see the hardships that folks used to have. And yet the person who used this trailer must have thought he was blessed to have it!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful post! I enjoyed seeing all your photos of this sheepherders wagon. I can remember a time as a child when our family was hiking in mountains in eastern Oregon. We came upon a sheepherders wagon and a sheepherder. It was so interesting and very intriguing to me as a little girl. I loved the complete house on a wagon!
ReplyDeleteAs a young woman I just to picture living in a nicer version of just this, tending sheep, spinning, and isolation. It makes me think of the little caravan trailer I would like to find.
ReplyDeleteAmazing. How could one live there we wonder but I am sure it was a real home to the sheep herder for which he was grateful.
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