To the Woods: Sinking Roots, Living Lightly, and Finding True Home

by Evelyn Searle Hess

To the Woods is a tale of adventure, inspiration, and living life in concert with nature. It is the true story of Evelyn Searle Hess, who, in her late fifties, walked away from the world of modern conveniences to build a new life with her husband on twenty acres of wild land in the foothills of Oregon's coast range mountains. To the Woods describes Evelyn's day-to-day struggles, failures, and discoveries. It tracks the natural history of place through the seasons. It wrestles with issues like human impact on the ecology of our planet.

Genres: Nature, Ecology, Memoir

175 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2010

Reviews

[B.A. Szabo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book, that took awhile to finish. If I were 30 years younger I might have moved to the woods!

[Kee Onn · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most beautifully written books I've read in recent years. A memoir of living in the woods, part necessity and part ingenuity, and part wanting to connect with nature and creatures and seasons and rhythms and the big orchestral arrangement that we overlook in our urban lives. I'm so glad to have found this hidden gem.

[Doranne Long · Rating 5 out of 5]

In To the Woods, Evelyn Searle Hess shares about her life, with her husband, David, as they live on their forested land, in a small trailer, and/or camping near the pond and wrestle with trying to keep their land wild and yet sustainable for their own needs.

[Deon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Evelyn and her husband David had what the outside world regards as good careers, Evelyn with the University of Oregon and David as an architect. The expected procedure for an educated couple in their position would be to work until retirement and collect as much “stuff” as possible along the way. Evelyn and David stepped off that path, turned their backs on the expectation of commercial comforts, and moved into a tiny trailer on twenty one acres in the Coast Range. Living off the grid, without running water, or electricity, they fashioned a life in harmony with nature. Their passion for landscape became their career as they found work gardening. In the summer plants grown on their little piece of paradise could be sold to bring in some needed income. They lived simply, respectful of the nature. To The Woods is a celebration of that life.

Hess seeks and finds a deep connection with the natural world on her 21 acres. She revels in the change of seasons, the colorful leaves in the fall, the explosion of brilliantly colored flowers in the spring, the warmth of summer. The book is full of encounters with wildlife; a tawny mother deer and her little fawn, a dog food eating bear, and marauding rodents. Her dogs approve heartily of living in such a rural setting, where they can run and play. Hess has a full and rewarding life making kind choices in quiet seclusion on her land.

As I read about her efforts to save rain water in a pond and reuse her dishwater, I thought about how much we take things for granted. Living in the city I used to have rain water collection barrels under our house’s downspouts. They pretty much took care of most of my watering needs during the summer. It was a painless way to use something that just goes to waste. Here in Sunriver I have a sprinkler system that comes on automatically via a timer and drenches the ground. Easier for sure, but not nearly as rewarding as those rain barrels.

Hess goes farther than most would find comfortable in living a very simple lifestyle. It can sound harsh and uncomfortable. Yet much of the world lives in such simple conditions and this book does an excellent job of making you think about lifestyle choices. Does not having a new car, or new clothes or top of the line appliances diminish Hess’s pleasure in the light reflected on her pond, or the scent of rosemary in her garden? Taking a walk with her dogs or working in her garden are simpler things that keep her more connected with life than any electronic gadget or acquisition.
There are many challenges to be surmounted by Hess; both David and Evelyn faced life threatening health issues. David suffered an aneurysm and went from the high tech world of brain surgery and hospitals back to his little trailer without any modern technology at all.

The tiny trailer was never meant to be their abode for so long, they always intended to build a home. But finance and setbacks kept them from realizing that dream. They are still working toward having a home built in harmony with the landscape.

But the heart and soul of the book is Evelyn Hess’s love for nature and her decision to live gently on the land.

[Annmarie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a 2010 memoir by an Oregonian woman who must be in her early 70s or maybe 60s now. It's nature writing with a dash of rugged hippie individualism and theme of discovery of oneself by living in the woods. Hess and her architect husband in 1992 buy 20+ acres of wooded land in the foothills of the Cascades outside Eugene. They keep their in-town house, but buy a junky small trailer to live in on the land. The plans are to have a nursery and greenhouse on the land, and gradually they move to renting their Eugene house to pay the mortgage and to living full time in the woods, with no electricity or plumbing; it sounds quite like camping full time. They learn to live frugally & pretty lightly on the earth (there's no room for anything in the trailer!), and in tune with nature, which sends their way lots of blackberries, ivy, invasive weeds, and critters who find nursery plants delicious.

The writing is decent though not dazzling; the naturalist parts are the best, such as her description of finding baby jumping mice, seasonal changes, and observances of the plants and creatures that are attracted to their new irrigation pond.

I'm left with a decreased desire to buy land in the country - oof, that's a lot of work! And if I do, I'll be sure to build a cabin or "tiny house" (http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/) because unlike the elderly writer, I just do not have the fortitude to live in a damp dilapidated trailer for so long! Wow.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was really into this book, despite the fact that the subject matter isn't particularly gripping, it being the story of an older couple moving to the woods to live in a small trailer. I hate to say that it was inspiring, as that gives the wrong impression of the tone, but it made me think about how little a person needs to live and be happy. I didn't care for the ending, when Hess tries, after writing a very specific small story, to bring in the troubles of the entire world. otherwise, an interesting read.

[Peter Hoffmeister · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were so many things I didn't know about this life, our native plants, the author. Hess was incredibly honest.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read better books about the philosophical aspects of moving to the woods, but I really enjoyed this one for the detailed descriptions of her particular situation.

[Cyndi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lovely little book. I wish I could give it 3.5 stars. I look forward to reading more by her.