We Took To The Woods

This is a book that was copyrighted in 1942 and which we got out of the Scotia Library in the early 1950’s. We enjoyed this and her other books and when I found this one on the table of books for the upcoming Library Book Sale I decided that for fifty cents I should read it again. I did not regret it.

Louise Dickinson was a school teacher on a vacation canoe trip with her sister and several friends in the Rangeley Lake region of Maine and during a portage they came upon the first house they had seen in days and in the yard was a man splitting wood. The man, Ralph Rich, had just arrived that morning and was about to cook his first meal. They talked with him and he invited Louise and her group to have dinner with him and then to stay for the rest of the week. They did. Ralph had bought the place for a summer camp during boom times, but since 1929 had lived in Chicago and hadn’t been able to come East. Now, however, he had sold some patent rights and was planning to spend the entire summer at the camp and if things worked out right he would spend the rest of his life there. Out of this came courtship and marriage and Louise joined Ralph in the Maine woods. Their land is on the Rapid River, and surprisingly, is also on a road. The road is five miles long and a carry between two lakes—and therefore is called the Carry Road. One end is at Middle Dam with a permanent population of about nine people and the other end is at Sunday Cove on Lake Umbagog where there is an abandoned and rotting lumber camp and a population of two loons. There is no electricity nor any of the conveniences that it brings. (Just like the Wood summer camp in Maine.) Supplies come by boat in the summer and by tractor in the winter when the ice is strong enough to hold it. When the ice is too thick for boats and too weak for tractors the supplies come not at all.

The eleven chapters of the book are headed by what, in today’s world of acronyms, would be called FAQ’s (Frequently Asked Questions).

I. Why Don’t You Write a Book?

The first sentence of this chapter is “During most of my adolescence—specifically between the time when I gave up wanting to be a brakeman on a freight train and the time I had definitely decided to become an English teacher—I said, when asked what I was going to do with my life, that I was going to live alone in a cabin in the Maine woods and write.” By the time she actually was living in a cabin in the Maine woods (but not alone) she had forgotten about her ancient wish until friends reminded her of it, and would exclaim “How wonderful! You are doing what you always wanted.”

II. But How Do You Make a Living?

Most of their income comes from writing, but odd jobs, especially for “tourists”, also provide some income and they also provide some good stories. They often use one of their four cars (all ancient, even by 1942 standards, and remember, they have only five miles of road over which to operate all these cars) to transport canoes and gear over the Carry Road.

III. But You Don’t Live Here All the Year ’Round?

This chapter includes stories of getting in the winter’s wood supply (from November until January—after the leaves have fallen and before the snow gets too deep for getting around in the woods), Christmas (Christmas gifts are either home made or mail order), finding lost hunters, and winter clothing.

IV. Isn’t Housekeeping Difficult?

“[In the woods] I can be a rotten housekeeper and it doesn’t make much difference.”

V. Aren’t the Children a Problem?

The true Yankee answer to the question is, “Aren’t children always a problem, no matter where you live?” When Rufus, their first child was born (on December 18), one of her vivid memories was of Ralph with a wool cap pulled down over his ears, his mackinaw collar turned up to meet it, and his mittens on, reading by lantern light a little book called “If Baby Comes Before the Doctor.”

VI. What Do You Do With All Your Spare Time?

“This is what I can’t understand—whether I don’t have any spare time at all, or whether most of my time is spare time. Spare time, as I used to understand it, was time left over from doing the necessary, unpleasant things…Now almost everything I do—except cooking—is fun and it is also useful.” Amongst the activities described are smelting (catching smelts), maple sugaring, fly tying, and their aborted attempt at putting a dog team together.

VII Don’t You Ever Get Bored?

This chapter has a good description of the spring log drive, with related stories.

VIII Aren’t You Ever Frightened?

“There is nothing to be afraid of in the woods—except yourself.” The one time she was frightened the animal was a charging cow. There is an amusing story of their pet skunk.

IX Don’t You Get Awfully Out of Touch?

Her answer to this question is a question: Out of Touch with What? Through a friend of her sister they get boxes of advanced copies of books and they probably read more books than the questioners. The radio keeps them up to date with the news and entertainment and in the summer they get newspapers from Boston. And the U.S. Mail keeps them in touch with everyone they want to be in touch with.

X. Do You Get Out Often?

After four years in the woods a friend suggested that she ought to go Outside for a while lest she become “Woods Queer.” She did go to the nearest town, stayed over night and went back to her home in the woods feeling happy to be there. She also provides an entertaining view of the annual Town Meeting.

XI. Is It Worth-While?

There are times when it is not, but over all, the answer is “yes.”

I have tried to give a hint as to the contents of each chapter. Actually each chapter contains many anecdotes—most of them amusing. It is a light, humorous, and interesting book and I recommend it.

— Warren Langdon