His Side of the Forest

When I was about 8 or 9, I read the book My Side of the Mountain, about a boy inspired by Thoreau's writings, who leaves the city and makes his home in the wilderness (in the Catskills, I think).  Many years later I saw the movie with Theo Bikel & Teddy Eccles, but it wasn't as good as the 'theatre of the mind' I'd had while reading the book.

I think the urge to live for a time in the wild has always stayed with me.

This guy has done just that.  Though I can't condone the squatter mentality (it wasn't his family's land), or growing the dope, I do give the guy credit for his concealment ingenuity and carpentry skills:



If he had built one of Jay Shafer's tiny houses instead of that 10x20' Taj Majal in the woods, he might not now be homeless (and in jail)...