Jenn McKinlay: I have been waiting for the latest release by the Mary Higgins Clark Award nominated author, Paige Shelton, since...well, since I devoured book two, Cold Wind, in her fabulous Alaska Wild suspense series. And now we are mere weeks from release day!!! The third in the series, Dark Night, drops on December 7th, so you have just enough time to read the previous two! Go get 'em! And now here's Paige to tell us about what inspired book three.
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Paige: I remember when I first read about Laura Ingalls Wilder’s dugout house on the banks of Plum Creek. I was a kid, so it sounded cozy and adorable. Back in the early 2000s, I took a Laura Ingalls Wilder road-trip and drove to the spot outside Walnut Grove, Minnesota, where the dugout had been . . . dug out. It was unexpected. You travel up a country road, wave at a smiling couple who sit in rocking chairs on their country home’s wide porch, and make your way to the creek and surrounding wide open prairie lands.
I have to admit, the tiny home wasn’t exactly how I pictured it. What is though? The dugout has collapsed so there’s not much to see – no small beds or table and chairs, just collapsed earth, some interesting signs, and the creek. Still, I’m glad I took a look and would travel out of my way to see it again someday. I wouldn’t trade that trip for the world.
When I started working on my latest Alaska book, I needed to come up with a hidden place, a home where no one could be found. Of course, living off the grid is a real thing in Alaska, and in my mind, I concluded that an underground home would REALLY be off the grid. However, though I did find some impressive underground homes in my research, they had been constructed using the finest materials, some with wonderful skylight windows over the top. These wouldn’t make good secret hideaways. The permafrost is pretty stubborn in our 49thstate, so heavy duty excavating equipment is needed for anything fancy.
Also, living off the grid can be more expensive than you might think, if you do it legally and want to spend some money to make a modern shelter, that is.
But I wasn’t interested in modern. I wasn’t interested in following the rules (fictionally; of course in real life, I’m all about the rules), so I dug (pun intended) a little deeper.
Let’s say you have someone who wants to hide in Alaska, wants to live off the grid but doesn’t want to file all the proper paperwork, could they, feasibly, find a remote place, and when the permafrost has melted some, dig out a home, or a shelter, without all the big equipment that would make it easier?
Well. I think the answer is maybe.
It seems that back around 800 BC the Norton or Dorset Paleo-Eskimo groups did build semi-subterranean houses that had been excavated partially or completely below the ground surface – and they did this to take advantage of underground geo-thermal protections during the harshest weather.
In fact, there are many versions of this kind of house over time in all arctic regions. *The Alaskan homes were heavily insulated and had been constructed to allow some privacy and some social contact for large groups of people despite the harsh weather raging outside. And they were all built without a Home Depot in sight. They were made with cut sod, stone, and whalebone, insulated with sea mammal or reindeer skins and animal fats then covered with snow.
Their interiors possessed cold-traps and sometimes dual seasonal entrance tunnels, rear sleeping platforms, kitchen areas, and various areas for stowing food, tools and other household goods. They were large enough to include members of extended families and their sled dogs, and they were connected to their relatives and the rest of the community via passageways and tunnels. *
Another name for semi-subterranean dwellings is Pit House. Archeologists have found evidence of them having been used as winter homes throughout the world, but mostly above 32 degrees latitude (Dallas, Texas is at this latitude) – because of their thermal efficiency. Heat loss is 20% less in shelters built at least partially into the earth than those completely above ground.
I know 800 BC was a long time ago, but it’s impressive to see the ingenuity of the Alaskan natives and of many populations throughout the world who had to figure out how to live in a place that was always trying to kill them. It’s was about survival, not hiding, but I figured I could still use the idea.
Before all the modern amenities, it was a smart way to live.
So, could a single fictional character who is desperately in need of shelter, dig to get what they need, by themselves? We ll, I think that almost anything is possible in fiction.
What about you, Red and Readers, could you live in a subterranean home?
Thanks to Jenn and all the Jungle Reds for letting me stop by today!
*-* I took the details from this article. The above picture is included, but I don’t think it’s actually part of a subterranean home. https://www.thoughtco.com/prehistoric-arctic-housing-169866
Paige Shelton has lived a whole bunch of different places, but in 2015 she and her family moved to Arizona. She loves the desert life and hopes to stay for a long time. For more information, check out her website, www.paigeshelton.com
