Sometimes we don't make the best decisions in life. Take, for instance, this cabin. I have some land in Colorado, and about a half mile away at some point last summer, a man came and put up this cabin which is about 8 by 12 feet. I thought it went up pretty quickly, so I went to examine it after he was gone. He had put cement blocks right on the sand, seated 4X4s in the blocks (no poured cement as far as I could tell so far) and attached the deck floor of the cabin to those 4X4s. In no way was this structure tied to the ground. I believe the man who did this must not be from around here as he seriously underestimated the force of the winds on the south side of a 14,000 foot peak in southern Colorado. Just this week, less than a year later, this is what his cabin looks like. I fear he will be unhappy when he returns to put the windows in and inhabit his little summer dwelling. I hope he likes mice also because they are likely already friendly inhabitants.
We do all make mistakes from time to time--or perhaps just miscalculations of large proportion. I just hope if I ever decide to build a little cabin in southern Colorado, I'm smart enough to use some concrete.
Mostly this post is for my sister... she'll understand why. As an architect and city planner, this cabin rankled. It ticked me off just because it marred my view, being exceptionally ugly and poorly built. My guess was it would last a few years, but to have the wind push it over in less than a year really boosted my admiration of the ferocity of southern Colorado winds.