Backing Away From Society

Before I ever had health problems, before I ever found myself submerged in nature unknowingly following a path into a reclusive life... long before the change really started I never was very good at "fitting in" to society's standards. Looking back it all seems like superficial steps, practice steps, maybe baby steps into the life I would inevitably later lead - choosing the wrong kind of clothes, choosing the wrong things to say at the wrong time, the wrong music, the wrong color lipstick, the wrong haircut, the wrong colored date for the school dance.

Society always seemed to have this thumb pressing down on the very nature of the human heart, and while pressing down hard it seemed there was a voice saying that unless I gave into the demands, commands and expectations I would get squished by the giant civilized thumb. If I obeyed the thumb it would let off the pressure (a forever promise), the message being that "fitting in" was all one could choose if they wanted to be "happy" in this life.

Problem was, I saw right through the facade of all the people who had heeded to the thumb. They were not happy either - that small bit of observation alone was enough to send me searching, even if was just for a darker shade of lipstick at the corner store. But when my health led me to a drastic change in plans (aka- WHat? You mean I am not going to be a famous artist with one kid married to another famous artist living in NYC?) I found a new freedom, a freedom only nature seemed to give me.

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I was diagnosed with a rare & severe form of Celiac Sprue (autoimmune disease) around age 22. I have mentioned this before and I mention it again because it was the turning point that led me to the near utter rejection of all things connected to the outside world. Outside world being, modern civilized white picket fence, windex spraying, fine (gluten) dining, consumer monster society. This was a world I already had trouble having a toe in, much less a foot in the door. Once I got sick the not-so-hypoallergenic door was slammed shut, because there would be certain social activities (like going out to eat or enjoying holidays meals) I could never be a part of again, period, finis, over.

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Nature though didn't care. Nature has no judgement or obligatory feelings. The forest celebrates everyday in the same way, and has no concern for it's kindness or cruelty. The butterflies, the crawling insects, the opossums don't go X-mas shopping, don't go on dates, grab a beer or go out to eat. They don't care if you can have babies, or if you have a real job. In fact, the more I look(ed) at the natural cycle of life, not manipulated by humans, the more life opened up and seemed to have a safe place for me after all. It was human society that had created a modern, domesticated, civilized world that I couldn't quite fit into... so I slowly, and sometimes reluctantly backed away from "normalcy", from the high expectations of a tribe I could not force myself to function in (for the sake of my health and the rest of me).

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I really believed Janis Joplan when she said "freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose" because at my lowest points I felt the most free from the enormous thumb of society. The less I had the less I would fret, the less I was protective of, the less I had to defend or justify. At the same time, I learned that having nothing can also be a hardship which forced me to vacillate between hating modern life and using modern life in a manipulative way to get what I wanted.

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What did and do I want?

To set myself up to not need society anymore.

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It is not just a survivalist thing, or a rewild challenge, or even just an eco friendly way to live. It's a way to avoid the thumb of society and the people who individually make it a (ass)whole- the judgement that burns your back as you walk away from a scolding neighbor, or a cold stare from the people in suburbia who not only have gave into the thumb, but went ahead and shook hands with the big ogar.

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But I dont mind being a threat to civilized & structured patterns. In fact, there is some kind of purpose and drive in ruffling up the straight line I was told to walk, a drive that reaches into my spirit in the purest form and says "keep going!"

I can say with all certainity, I am never turning back.

Not because I can't, but I don't want to. My back will stay facing the eyes of our harsh society in full protest to their robotic way of living. Even if sometimes I ask my very soul "WTF, why is THIS the path to choose? Why wasn't I just one of them?"

xoxoxo

Skinning A Chipmunk

Another case of "oh my god look what the cat dragged in" but instead of living my life "sin after sin" against nature I realized this nearly untouched but dead chipmunk would be the perfect opportunity to learn to skin an animal. It seemed like such a waste that my cat killed it without even eating it...even though I know various bugs and some other forest animal could scavenge the body.
No better school though then the school of life, alone, with no teacher to show you the right way, just silly survival books with crappy drawings on skinning small critters.

I tied the chipmunk with hemp twine to a pine stick I found on the ground. Then I hung it up for better leverage.

I won't lie, I was trying to multi-task while doing this... I was on the phone with my sister, and going back and forth with my donkey giving her ginger candies. Which is why I probably made my first mistake...

I thought I'd just cut down the belly, but it was hard to penetrate the skin and when I pushed hard enough, some organs started poppin' out like bubble gum slowly filling with air. Then blood dripped and I was totally unsure if I was doing it right...

I took it down to take some time to think, and realized having it hanging up gave the tension, pull I needed to actually cut into the skin. And that I needed to cut somewhere else.

THE SUCCESS:

I decided to cut around the feet (full circle) then a line up each inner thigh all the way across.

And PULL!

and pull HARDER... the skin pealed off.I realized that puncturing the belly was a bad mistake, because the more I had pulled the skin, the more organs were falling out, the more blood...which got on the fur. I left the rest of the chipmunk for the creatures of the forest, away from my porch.

I had to rinse the blood off the chipmunk fur in the kitchen sink, then put it out to dry.

I am really kinda amazed at how simple this is. If any of ya'll have done it before I would really love tips from a expert!

Also, any ideas on what can be made with tiny chipmunk fur? I was thinking about a bracelet, but wish I could think of something more functional.

XOXoxxoxo (dont worry I washed my hands before these hugs and kisses!)

Debris Hut (part 2)

Yep... I am STILL working on my debris shelter. But I have a reason why this quick easy type of emergancy/survival shelter is taking me months - I was waiting for the leaves to fall off the trees this fall season and use them, cause I am not really in any hurry. :)
JuJu my donkey watched me gather wet leaves in a bag with great curiosity, and wondered why I was tossing them on top all these sticks.

She really started to think it was a cool project (and not just a big stupid scary bag of leaves) when i decided to see how hay would work, and used part of a moldy bale of hay in combo with the leaves. The hay was thicker, and more sturdy, it also held to the sticks better.

But JuJu kept trying to steal the parts of the hay that weren't moldy.... ;)

And I am still not finished this project.... (i know, it's taking way too long!)

I am thinking of covering it in one layer of hay, then one layer of leaves.

But what should be on top of that to hold the leaves down properly? Suggestions appreciated!!!

Xoxoxox

Animal Tracking: Who's Scat Is That?

I might need ya'lls help! You see I found this scat about a week ago and can't quite seem to identify who poop'ed this one out?!

I know it appears to be hairy in the pic, but in real life and if you click the pic to a larger size you will see it is more like a fungus growing on it, rather then hair sticking out. It seems to be a grouping of large (as in much larger then a deer, rabbit or even a raccoon) pellets that are more oval shaped.

The closest I could find to this scat in my trusty rusty lil' scat book was that it may be a groundhog... except everyone says it's rare to see groundhog scat because usually they poop inside a special place in the tunnels at their home. An underground groundhog bathroom.

So could this be a rare moment of a groundhog poopin' in the wild instead of at his hand built potty place?

So, Help! Who shat this scat?
XOxoxo

Do You Forage For Food?

...cause it's kinda exciting and fun. Not to mention probably some deep biological drive that feels super satisfying to fulfill. While I am working on having much of my own food growing at the Luck Cabin by planting dwarf fruit trees, having seasonal veggie gardens, planting a variety of culinary herbs, and learning about edible forest plants... I also am a food foraging scout for at least 2 miles around me.

Meaning, alot of the folks who live in these parts don't actually live here anymore. Farmers get old and die, the family holds onto the land but doesn't want to live there, or there are the once popular vacation homes that are for sale & abandoned now. These people just are not around, and with all the walks I take in the area I can't help but scope out every plant, fruit tree, nut tree and take a mental note of when it will be ready to drop a good meal.

Pictured above are a ton of small white peaches on the ground at a house no one has lived at for quite some time. I picked through them to find the best looking ones. I wanna make peach sauce! :)

Pictured below are HUGE delicious turnip greens I found in a field down the road, the cabin & property there is a vacation spot I have yet to see anyone stay at. The field is mostly overgrown.

There are some places where neighbors DO live, and have such an abundance of apples and chestnuts they are willing to share. :)

Another "food" I forage for is seeds. I find seeds to other herbs, plants, and wildflowers that I want to take back with me to my cabin. In my hand (pic below) is the seed head for the herb YARROW. I use yarrow alot during the summer in the natural bug repellent I make for my skin.

Usually while I am out on these walks I find tracks from native animals, and sometimes I find the real thing...

These are wild turkeys that were very close and within perfect range to get for dinner, but I don't have those kind of hunting skills yet. Or rather I only had a big knife on me at the time and not a gun, or a bow & arrow. But the potential to forage some good turkey meat is easily available...and for me personally one turkey would last me 6-8 months.

FOOD I GATHERED :::::::::

I got a pretty good variety of free foods to eat. Think about it.. it's FREE. Free food and free therapy because giving in to your inner hunter/gatherer just feels good, feels peaceful, and right.

And since these foods are wild, they are not only organic but they are even better then organic!

Chestnuts, apples, peaches, acorns, turnip greens (and wishfully a turkey, maybe next time)! And there is so much more to be had, this is just what I can fit in my backpack and carry on each trip. Had I bought all this at the health food store I would have spent a fuckin' TON of money, just organic apples alone woulda broke me.

But now i can have yummy peach and apple sauce, and enjoy the fruits & nuts of my scouting labors. :)

Xoxoxox

Animal Tracking: Bobcat & Wild Turkey

Can hardly see it huh? Neither could I. As I was walking I began to stare to my right at the smooth clay & silt where rain had drained down the side of a mountain road, I imagined how nice some tracks would look in that perfectly smooth mud...
then I saw it.
Bobcat tracks.
One after another in a staight line, wide apart and shaped with such perfection that it left no doubt as to what had left it. No claw marks, large pads, feline shape... (see track info & drawings HERE)....
A bobcat moving upward along the road, moving towards some turkey feathers and...

...wild turkey tracks (see pic below)! You can almost see the scene unfolding, like a dream of something to happen, already happened, to always happen. The hunt. The cat trailing the bird in hunger, in play and power.

Xoxoxo

Animal Tracking: Black Bear Scat?

While me and JuJu the donkey were on one of our walks I came upon this scat (poop) in the gravel road. I knew right away it was not raccoon scat, bird scat, or deer scat because of the shape...
it had some round berries in it and didn't look hairy so I felt perplexed as to whether it might be coyote scat either.
Fox? A bit of black bear poop? Opossum?
Following scat descriptions, I know that canine's have poop that gets pointy on the ends and bobcats have a tubular shape too - deer and rabbit poop comes out in pellets (rabbit's having a more dry, flat, & separated look, deer being a bigger wet pile of pellets), wild turkey scat looks like a big bird poop with the white mixed in. Raccoon's look like alot of lil' cylinder tubes of poop, and opossums are kinda like a coyote poop that has bumps strung together....
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This left me with one choice... a choice I smelled about 50 feet down the road....
A Black BEAR!
Further down the way I smelled a strong odor, one that was like skunky urine. I immediately knew it was a bear, I assume from some deep biological part of my brain that carries primitive instincts cause I have not seen a bear urinate & then sniffed it after. It's something you just know when it blows into your nose. A bear smells like no other animal and it's generally skunky stinky dread locked dirty pungent aroma can't be missed.
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Now I realize, the bear has been hanging all around my cabin, this poop with these berries in it are everywhere in the woods.
XOxoxo

All My Awls

Not too long ago I was needing an AWL to finish the brain tanned buckskin skirt I had started to craft at one of the Firefly Classes I took. With buckskin sewing, you poke holes with an awl into the leather and lace up the pieces that you would "sew" together with leather thongs (strips of leather, or laces of leather).
This was the first time I learned about the tool called an "awl" which by definition just means a long pointed spike and can be used in endless ways... but specifically I needed a stitching awl, a tool made from metal in modern times but back in the day it was crafted from carved bone dating back to the romans and the paleolithic age.
So to say I was delighted when suddenly I was given handmade awls, let's just say i was 'awl' vaclempt.
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Bort hand carved two awl handles from some silver maple wood, one awl point he carved from a cow bone... the other a nail. The nail was hammered in first, then the nail head end cut off, and the metal sharpened with a metal file.
The metal is alot harder to sharpen by hand then the bone, I believe (correct me if I am wrong guys!).
Urban Scout used a larger deer bone, leaving the structure of the bone as a handle - and he said he sharpened the bone on a concrete sidewalk, and made a sharp flat shaped point.
This is what he said about the awl pictured above:
"Leslie, the bone awl is made from an “Ulna Bone” but I use cannon bones as well. The ulna has that nice finger holding groove in it and sits in the hand very nicely. Cannon bones and a bit more work."
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I like the idea of using bone more then metal, because you can sharpen it on a rough stone (or like Scout right on the sidewalk outside a neighborhood house) - with metal I worry about breathing in metal dust or getting it in my eye.
For the awl handle I love both styles these guys made, but there is something really nice about the feel of the wooden handle fitting easily in the palm of my hand.
...
Now to finish that fringe buckskin mini skirt!!

Xoxoxox

Making Kudzu Rope with a Drop Spindle

Remember back in the day when Bort came over and showed me how to make natural rope from the Yucca plant in my yard.... (probably not cause that was soooo winter 2009, check it out here.)
Yesterday he came over with a hand made Drop Spindle he carved from wood and weighted down with clay, and showed me how he used it to make rope from kudzu vines!
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FIRST STEP - He took the kudzu vine and bash-n-smashed it between two pieces of wood to separate the fibers (see top pic). Then it made it easy to peel away the strong outer layer used for making the rope. (On the really young vines the inner layer was too soft.)
SPINNING IT :::::
Take the piece of plant fiber/string and hook the center of it to the spindle, folding it over into two pieces...

...then begin twisting it tightly, holding strong tension so that it doesn't fold in on itself....

as you go along, you add in pieces to the twisting, just kinda stick them in there and make sure they get caught up in the twisting. Put them in long before the piece you were working with is going to run out...

If you are doing this project alone (which most the time I am!) then it's best not to make it longer then your arms length for each section, that way you can still hold the tension when you have to remove the first length of twisted kudzu....

PULL the twisted rope off the hook at the end while holding the tension --- you can use both hands, another person, or like Bort, ya TeeTh! After you pull one end off the hook wrap it around the spindle in order to make room for the next section of rope....

...wrap it close to the end you were working on, then double wrap that end to the hook again and start the process over... this is how you get the rop to be longer, and longer and longer.....

(BTW- your arms will be hurtin'!)

I took a turn to make the next length of rope on the drop spindle and then once it was the length I wanted and I was ready to move onto the next step, I tied a knot in the end I had been working on. STILL holding the tension.

Take the knotted end and tie it to something (especially if you don't have someone there to help you!) .....

WHile holding the tension TIGHT unwind the rope that is wrapped around the spindle, and make sure when you get to the end you are holding that end piece tight also ( I accidentally let it drop and it lost some of it's tight quality).

Hold the tension tight, and find the center of the rope....

THEN the MAGic ::::::

Fold it in half at the center, let go, and watch it twist onto itself!!!

Pretty freakin' rad? yes?!!

There is something primal and fulfilling about knowing how to make your own rope... F the Home Depot type stores, there is plenty invasive Kudzu on the side of the road!

PS- I thought about making a rope halter for JuJu my donkey out of the kudzu rope but she likes to eat it. :))))

Xoxox

I've Been Re-Wilding At Firefly

Guess where I have been since Thursday??? Re-Wilding classes at the annual FIREFLY!Firefly is a local Western North Carolina 'gathering' of people (all ages) who want to learn how to do amazing re-wilding, primitive, homesteading, crafting & earth easy skillz --- it consisted of 4 really intense days of classes taught by lovable teachers who don't just know the skillz but live them every moment of their lives.
I arrived at Camp Pinnacle wednesday night for registration, where i was given a canvas name tag and a little wooden bead on hemp string bracelet to show I was now part of the re-wilding tribe. I was then handed a map, with a LONG list of classes to choose from--- so many classes that it was literally agonizing trying to decide....

Classes available were an expansion on primitive ways of life, and survival knowledge... wild mushroom, tree & plant walks, building rafts, tanning animal hides, carving wooden spoons and bowls, basket weaving, slaughtering chickens & goats, trapping animals, debris shelter & friction fire making, flint knapping, sewing with buckskin, making bows and arrows, DIY Oil lamps, pottery (should I really go on?... you can see the list here cause you will want to go next year! )

Before any classes began, there was a short & sweet orientation where a man walked out to start a ceremonial fire with a bow drill, using friction (see pic above) - I seriously thought we'd be there for 30 mins waiting for the fire to start but it could not have been more then 5 minutes that he started a whole bonfire, using just friction & his breath into the smouldering kindling. It was f-en incredible!

CLASSES/STUFF I LEARNED::::::

The first class I attended was spoon carving - a technique that was not easy, but also was shockingly simple. The teacher (Barron, see guy in jumpsuit above) started with just a simple small piece of fresh cut green wood and a hatchet to split it into a thinner piece to begin carving with.

We used tools he had handcrafted himself & our personal knives (cause at this event everyone carries a KNiFe!!) Starting buy gouging out the spoon center, then carving around it....

this is my spoon below, almost finished. Chunky, but oh my gawd I was sooooo proud & love it.

I was really into learning how to tan animal skins, so that I can use them to make clothing and other long lasting items...so I took a BARK TANNING class with Todd (the rad guy who can start fast friction fires!)

This class was also simple, chemical free yet a hard working process - I learned how to use hemlock tree bark & red oak to tan animal hides--- the bark has to be pounded into a powder and then either boiled down or soaked in water. He said if the water is cold sometimes with Hemlock it brings out the astringent tannins instead of the bitter ones, and FOR realZ he had everyone in the class taste the tannins so they could know the difference because the bitter ones work better! I totally only sniffed it... ;)

People not only tasted the tannins he had in jars, but they even tasted the tannins holding the animals skin in the bucket - the tannins are so strong, they kill everything (germs, foot fungus) - the color from the bark made a soothing shade of red on the leather...

He showed us animal skins tanned with and without the fur on too - the smaller critters needed a stronger quicker solution, while the bigger ones, start out with weaker solutions. The coolest part was it's REALLY hard to fuck up this process, the part that is most likely to get messed up is during the skinning and scrapping that is done before the tanning.

A favorite class of mine (mainly cause i was totally loved by my teacher Laura) was the Pine Needle Baskets!!! I have been waiting to learn how to weaves a nice tight basket for along time- and this method was a fairly easy coiling method, using long pine needles. You can use other gathered materials too (I am hoping to make some out of grass, devil's vine, and kudzu).

Using just hemp twine and a needle, we were taught to coil & weave the basket together, in a patterns of circles.

Later on during the night, when I went to decorate my basket with beads, Laura was nice enough to show me how to make OLIVE OIL LAMPS (which can also be done with animal fat and other slow burning oils). Simply by filling a glass or ceramic jar/container with the oil, then taking a wire, coiling it around a nail, then pull the nail out and shove in a cotton wick. Make the large wire circle at the bottom and handle at the top to make it easy to pull out and stand up...

Have you eva' heard of Brain Tanning Animal Hides? A process different from bark tanning, but brain tanning makes the leather so buttery soft (without using any chems) it's hard to believe --- I took a class on how to Sew With Buckskin that had been brain tanned!

Not using needle and thread, but using cordage made from the skin itself and an awl to poke the holes to lace it through - following the contours of the animals natural curves to decide it's best use (AKA does it make a good shirt, skirt, top, or purse). Parts of the hide are stronger then other, like the neck, spine and bottom - and the outfits need to be made with symmetry in order for them not to get out of shape only on one side.

I am still working on my project, but it's going to be a fringe skirt (shown below) and a bikini top(not shown)! wooo!

OTHER ENTERTAINMENT:::::::::::::

FireFly was at a place called camp pinnacle, that had been a summer camp in Hendersonville, NC for the last 80 years. There was a beautiful and warm 17 acre lake to swim, canoe, kayak, dive into- and for some designated areas to even skinny dip in!
At night there were 3 fires going, with drumming, hoola hooping (fire on the hoola hoops!), dancing, singing, and even some fiddle playin'!

Watching the people go absolutely tribal and bazzzurk around the fire made me feel like i was Britney Spears on the side lines of something really different then myself. I stayed an observer, but one who could hardly stop looking.Other types of evening activities consisted of primitive potluck & cookoff, barter fair, and my very favorite the "trade blanket"! No money allowed at the trade blanket, everyone who had something to trade sat in a circle, one by one placing what they wanted to trade on the blanket in the center. Each person had a chance to offer a trade or refuse, some people offered stuff like herbs, mead, massages, fudge, juggling lessons, animal furs, animals antlers, handmade jewelry, feathered earrings, drums, books, clothes....

Firefly runs on a sliding scale ($$$) for classes, and you can go for the entire event or just for a day... It was totally worth every moment, every penny, and every missed wink of sleep (and even the long drive which was difficult for me)!

I highly recommend this event to anyone interested in learning how to really live in union with nature, our natural biology, and our deep need to be true survivor.

XOxoxox