The Cabin Mama Story
Have you ever hankered for a little log cabin in the woods? Well, I did. The cabin I eventually found reminded me of grandad’s “Camp,” a never ending project he started in the 1940’s. Camp was our favorite destination vacation, so we spent our summers frolicking in the woods and waters of Upstate New York. We loved playing chase through the pine groves, floating our home-made boats in the crick, and looking for wild strawberries on the hillsides.
That was the fun part. We also cleaned kerosene lamps and brought in wood for the fireplace — a fireplace so big you could have had a party in it! We hauled water up from the well, buckets sloshing all the way back to the cabin. We emptied chamber pots and cleaned the outhouse. No indoor plumbing to be had for quite a few decades.
A friend nicknamed me Cabin Mama because I bought that little log cabin and called it home. It was only 900 square foot cabin and was built in 1924. I loved that little place! The massive fieldstone fireplace filled the room and held our wood-stove. Crackling flames kept us almost too warm. We had four memorable years before the cabin and everything we owned burned in a wildfire. We have since rebuilt and life goes on. Check out my wildfire stories here, here, and here.
The Backstory:
Mom was a city girl and Dad was a farmer. They made a great team and struck a healthy balance between work and chores, fun, love, encouragement and discipline. Born the eldest into what would become a big, rambunctious Catholic family, my siblings and I definitely won the lottery in the parent department.
I spent the next 7 years active duty in the United States Air Force as a Paralegal. Along the way, I earned a USAF Marksmanship Ribbon, a Commendation Medal and volunteered on the Base Honor Guard. We provided honors for deceased military members and surviving families. It was a real privilege to serve on that team and serve my country.
You could say my work experience has been eclectic. I’ve cleaned stalls on a 400-head horse farm, sold checks, supervised 100+ employees in a call center, and provided employee benefits counseling at RIT, a 2500 employee technical college. After a move from Upstate New York to Colorado, I founded and ran a small business for 25 years. You can learn more about that here.
I’m a proud momma of three great young adults and two perfect grandchildren. I also married the love of my life in 2017. I write about them all here on this blog, so check out the archives.
Writing ever since grade school, I started a newsletter called the “Flockette Gazette” for high school friends and considered it journalism. (We were teenagers; what did we know?) As an adult, I’ve written for trade journals, blogs and publications like Field & Stream Women’s online magazine, Colorado Springs Business Journal Special Reports and many others. I started blogging in 2006, and write here as Cabin Mama as well as a personal development and business blog at LauraLollar.com.
Current Events:
As a professional speaker, I have traveled the world presenting for groups from 5 to 500 on business topics as well as about surviving Colorado’s Black Forest Wildfire in 2013. Audiences benefit from knowing how to build resilience in the face of non-negotiable change.
As an author, I co-wrote The Camp Book stories with my mother about her years in the 1940’s at their Camp in Upstate New York. You can find the book here. In early 2025 I’ll be releasing my Cabin Mama Stories book, so stay tuned!
It’s a pleasure to write for you! Please feel free to reach out to me with your comments and questions.
Warmly, Laura (aka Cabin Mama)
