Big storm last night. In heavy downpours the roof becomes a gigantic glockenspiel, wet globular notes bouncing off it. Other drops of rain sluice through, in a descanting descent, to strike and slither off the deer hide yurt cladding.
Deer hide…
… stretched taut over a lattice framework of willow; a tough canvas impermeable to water. Allows a yurt’s occupant to sleep dry and undisturbed by puddles of cloud juice forming outside. (Cold wet feet await anyone inattentively exiting their yurt.)
When new holes in the roof appear or old holes widen, the yurts are shifted to a dry(er) spot. This is not a task we lightly undertake. The dismantling of heavy hide and numerous pieces of wood being a most onerous business.
Yurt transhumance
In summer we move the château yurts outside, positioning them in a circle about the solar time yurt. A formation that contrasts with the parallel rows of Western housing. Circular beating rectilinear!
In winter the yurts are moved back inside, their openings aligned with the château’s windows. So much more civilised to be gently awoken by natural light than a graceless alarm clock.
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