Shelter

One midnight when I was about sixteen and watching the late movie with Dad, I started to nod off. He rocked my shoulder. &quot;Listenup,&quot; he said, pointing to the screen. I propped up to peer past the bowl of old maids to see Mr. O&#39;Hara, redder than usual, lecturing Scarlett.<br /><br />&quot;. . . land is the only thing in the world worth workin&#39; for, worth fightin&#39; for, worth dying for, because land is the only thing that lasts!&quot;<br /><br />Sarah Stonich&#39;s family had once owned land&mdash;an island in Lake Vermilion that was lost after the Depression&mdash;and while her father still managed to give his daughters the quintessential Minnesota cabin experience, it was on a patch of leased land.<br /><br />Long after her father passed away, a newly divorced Stonich finds herself yearning for a piece of land to call her own, that perfect spot on a lake, tall pines, a sense of permanence, a legacy for her son, and a connection to her paternal heritage.<br /><br />&quot;Perfect&quot; turns out to be roadless, raw wilderness near where her immigrant grandparents settled a century before and where the family name is now a postscript. Stonich recalls stories of her relatives, meets admirable and remarkable characters in the community, considers another go at love, and, finally, builds a small cabin. But when &quot;progress&quot; threatens to slice her precious patch of land in half, she must come to terms with the fact that a family legacy is no less valuable with or without a piece of earth.