WriterByNature.com

April 22, 2008 6:00 am

The price of gasoline is beyond excessive. So, I have a new personal rule: if it’s within four miles, I walk. I have discovered a hiking trail less than a mile from my home. I can walk to the post office, two food stores, three bus stops and a train stop in less than a half hour.

I even passed two car rental agencies in my trek on foot. The bus and train can get me to other hiking trails, a major city and even an airport, should I need it. If I can carry a backpack with camping gear, I can carry groceries in the same pack. (more…)

April 7, 2008 1:57 pm

What began as a lead on one really cool housing idea, led to the discovery of one of the most environmentally-aware websites I have seen in a long time.

A visit to Patti Moreno at GardenGirlTV is time well spent. Patti, a self described, generation xer, “gets it.” Even better, she puts the principles of small scale sustainable agriculture to work in Boston, Massachusetts and documents the results in words and video. (more…)

February 21, 2008 7:23 am

This is one of those skills that has challenged me for years. I can’t make a stone tool Figure-4 set, but thanks to the adaptations of Barry Keegan and those who mentored him, I can make a functional Figure-4.

A bent lever stick, supported by a forked stick, will hold the weight of the rock. By setting bait on a thin cardboard or birch bark tray and securing that tray to the bait stick makes it easier to position, without prematurely collapsing the entire trap.

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January 30, 2008 6:29 pm

Barry Keegan told me that, prior to the Civil War, people kept their toothbrushes in cups of charcoal powder. Barry suggested I give his recipe for survival toothpaste a try. It works.

Here’s the recipe: (more…)

January 25, 2008 9:24 pm

“I said to get a bent lever stick. No one ever listens,” Barry Keegan grins, sighs and reaches for the bent stick I should have seen for myself. He hands it to me.

I’m kneeling in mud, trying to balance the elements of what is known as a Figure-4 trap. I’m juggling a forked stick, a length of hand-made cordage and a rock that I pray doesn’t land on me. Barry, as if hearing my thought, places a stone underneath the large rock to keep it in place.

Barry is an instructor at Hawk Circle. More accurately, he is an inspiration, a champion and an advocate. Barry loves finding new ways to build a shelter, get fire by friction, or fine-tune a trap. Barry’s creative mind and physical coordination make him a true master of Bushcraft. He doesn’t waste a move. He always gives more than he needs to - and more than any other participant. Without his added muscle-power, my classmates and I might not have had a roof or insulation for our winter survival shelter. With insufficient snow for a quinzee, we had to build another kind of shelter, which took more work than any of us realized.

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January 20, 2008 5:16 pm

My last three days at Hawk Circle were spent on the survival trek part of their Winter Intensive program. I had the choice to spend the time solo or as part of a group. My decision was based on the quality of snow on the property. I hadn’t used my cross country skis yet this winter.

So, with a good quality sleeping bag, my day pack, eight Larabars, two acorn burgers, three liters of water, two sets of warm clothes, my knife, a compass, a clock, my digital camera, a lighter and my skis, I set off solo for three days. Here are some of my journal notes:

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December 30, 2007 5:28 am

As I write this, I am on my way to Hawk Circle for their winter survival skills class. I will wake up in a nature setting on New Years Day. I expect to be transformed. (more…)

December 14, 2007 7:01 am

I don’t spend time efficiently, according to the business models.

I spent weeks scrubbing the hulls of black walnuts, when I could have been marketing myself. I have never looked at the world through conventional eyes; I’m beginning to feel very blessed to have my skewed point of view. (more…)

November 16, 2007 7:22 am

Years ago I lived at warp speed. I was in the middle of New York City, there were opportunities all around. It made sense.

But since I could walk, I’ve always sought the wild places. I’m not surprised to find myself in a position to choose what work I accept and how I spend my time.

In today’s value system, anyone looking at me would wonder if I have both oars in the water. I choose to use something until I no longer works. I don’t need a newer car, a newer computer or a newer pair of shoes.

Yes, I’m a fashion victim, but I’m a stress-free fashion victim. Those cares went away with anorexia.

When I was a homeowner, I devoted valuable marketing time to securing 4.5 acres of tax delinquent property into a town park. I met resistance, mostly from the drug dealers who thought all open space, including my woods, were for their use.

I put up with getting shot at, having the police tell me that swastikas painted on rocks was not a crime, and town board members tell me the land was the county’s responsibility.

In the end, God sent an angel in the form of a neighbor with connections to the community. We got the town and the county to work out a deal to turn the spot into a town park and even a bit of money from a county legislator. I carried petitions for the town board representatives who supported me. I even registered five neighbors to vote.

But, I could have been spending that time building my business and making money. I just didn’t. Somehow I always end up with what I need. I am deeply grateful.

Sometimes it would be nice to measure my successes by the size of my client list or my billing hours. But then I ride by that town park and think about how there are no drug dealers. A bit of grass is growing and no garbage has been dumped. That’s major.

It may qualify for a DEC tree planting. That would be exciting.

I can’t exactly explain why the park is a measure of success in my mind. Maybe because I’m such a poor business woman.

September 29, 2007 6:23 pm

I just played the consumer consequences game. Thanks to my friend Abby for sending me the link.

My score was 1.9 I’m pretty good, but as frugally as I live, it would still take two planets to support my lifestyle. (more…)