Life in the Kiln

Our garden in the Kiln

The United States Postal Service calls it "The Kiln". The natives call it "The Kill". I call it Kiln, Mississippi.
For the past year, my partner Tommy and I have been living in a 20' travel trailer, on property we own in, ironically, the "town" of Kiln. It is a small place, both the town and our travel trailer. We have cleared approximately three acres of land in the country. We are going to build a new house on the site eventually, but like thousands of others on the Gulf Coast, our insurance didn't pay squat: We're still paying the mortgage on the slab of our destroyed house in Waveland.

Around the time of the Civil War, my great grandparents immigrated from Norway to Southern Wisconsin. They lived in a cave for a year. They're my inspiration - hardy Nordic stock dealing with frontier life. If they could do it, in the winter of Wisconsin, I can do it in the summers of Mississippi. I know a travel trailer is more comfortable than a cave.

We have been able to build a wonderful garage/workshop. My new pottery studio is nestled in one end of the building. We've added a deck to our trailer and Tommy's created a fabulous vegetable and flower garden on the front of the acreage. In addition to being a contractor, he loves organic gardening. We both have a great time on firing days - here's a few photos of my kiln in the Kiln.


It's a different sort of life than we ever expected to have, but it's still a good one, here in "Settler's Paradise."

Quality Time together...