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Three Things: Wilderness Survival Edition

2011 May 2

From ages 9 to 11, I was obsessed with knowing how to survive in the wild. I devoured books like Hatchet, My Side of the Mountain, Island of the Blue Dolphins, and Julie of the Wolves (which also triggered another obsession, but that’s another topic).

I studied books about edible plants, I made mental lists of objects that would be useful in wilderness survival scenarios. I made survival kits (usually consisting of things like a roll of toilet paper, a lighter, a compass, and a box of raisins or something else that I could swipe from my mother’s cupboard without raising suspicion) and stashed them in secret spots in the forest. Just in case I needed to make a quick break for it. I ached for a chance to fulfill my adventure-filled dreams of self-sufficiency.

It never happened, though. I lacked the messed-up childhood that gave many of my fictional heroes a reason to run away, and never happened to be in one of those plane crashes or shipwrecks that deposited one smack in the middle of Robinson Crusoe. And while I am ultimately quite grateful for all of these things, there is still a small part of me that mourns my unrealized childhood fantasies. These three things are dedicated to that 10-year-old self.

 

Boy Scout Handbook. Boy Scouts of America, 1965. Via the chawed rosin.

 

Kelly Burgess, Untitled, from Summer series. www.kellyburgess.net

 

Howard Pyle, Marooned, 1909. Oil on canvas. Delaware Art Museum, Delaware.


12 Responses
  1. May 2, 2011

    I would so be eaten by bears. I was not a resourceful 10 year old, hell, I’m not even that resourceful at 33. Maybe subconsciously, that’s why I married an Eagle Scout! Btw…I love that Howard Pyle painting–beautiful!

    • Hazel permalink
      May 2, 2011

      Yeah, while I could climb trees and wield a slingshot at age 10, there’s a more-than-good chance that an actual bear encounter would have resulted in me becoming bear food. Either that, or the bear would look me in the eye, stop roaring, and become my friend for life. I was a fairly intrepid 10-year-old.

      And I agree about the painting! I imagine Howard Pyle must have been an engrossing storyteller in person, judging from his great illustrations and his Robin Hood and other swashbuckling tales.

    • Hazel permalink
      May 2, 2011

      P.S. Your Folsom’s 93 research is fascinating!

  2. May 2, 2011

    Ah! You have awakened the beastly wanderlust again. Your Boy Scout manual from 1965, while interesting, has nothing on the original, 1911 handbook, where our grandfathers and great-grandfathers learned how to be “men’s men” at an early age: The Boy Scout Handbook of 1911: The Art of Manhood. If anything can assure you how to avoid being eaten by bears, this would be it. (Note the end diagram that teaches youth how to strangle a rabid dog!)

    • Hazel permalink
      May 2, 2011

      Oh man, if I had one of those handbooks, it would have a prominent home on my bookshelf, right next to my copy of ‘How to Stay Alive in the Woods’ (by Bradford Angier).

      The sentence “The first thing to do is to kill the mad dog at once” cracks me up. Out of curiosity, what is the second thing? Does a true Scout bury it? Or assess the likelihood of it being rabid? It never would have occurred to me to kick a mad dog under the jaw to incapacitate it. I now consider myself relatively prepared for such a scenario, thank you.

      • May 2, 2011

        I suspect that the second thing you do is to earn a taxidermy badge, which did exist, and possibly a first aid badge.

        • Hazel permalink
          May 3, 2011

          HA! I’m laughing, but I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re actually right.

  3. Kathleen Childers permalink
    May 3, 2011

    The Yellow Wallpaper is an all-time favorite of mine, and I agree that it definitely must be read with a feminist view. It’s a short book but every line is packed with emotion and angst, and I imagined the author writing it while in that same state of hopelessness. Thanks for reminding me to pull it off the shelf for a re-read!

    • Wren permalink
      May 4, 2011

      Glad there’s another “The Yellow Wallpaper” fan out there! To write a story where every sentence matters and, like you said, is packed with emotion, is daunting! That’s why I stick to short poems…ha! But especially difficult is to write the main characters angst in-between the lines while what she’s saying is meant to be excusing of the very messed up situation and her husband’s actions. I’m getting goosebumps just thinking about it!

  4. timothy permalink
    May 3, 2011

    I’ve been a bit absent of late – I apologize. This is a great post to come back to, however. I, too, have always been excited by the idea of running away and living in the woods. One of my favorite books as a youth was My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George. It was my personal bible on all things outdoors. The Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts could never hold my attention because they never focused on what I saw as the “practical” things. What use had I for tying knots when it was unlikely I’d even have rope? (Furthermore, I never imagined that I’d run to, or be stuck in, the woods with anyone else so all the teamwork stuff didn’t speak to me.)

    Since that time I’ve found many other more practical guides to surviving in the woods. My favorite is a series called Foxfire. Started as an anthology of interviews conducted by high school students with members of their extended community in the Appalachian Mountains, it turned into record of rural living that has continued to preserve the culture. You can buy them here: http://www.foxfire.org/thefoxfirebooks.aspx but I recommend trying to find used copies. The added notes by previous owners can be really inspiring and informative.

    Like Hazel, I kept a stash of survival gear that has evolved over the years. To this day, “I always keep a small bag full of clothes, carefully stored / somewhere secret, somewhere safe and somewhere close to the door” (Frank Turner in his song “The Road”). It’s basically an emergency overnight bag with some added camping gear. I’d be happy to share my “To Be Prepared” list with anyone who wishes to put together a little bag.

    Finally, here’s a writing prompt: Think of the one (yes, only one) person you know personally who you would be willing to be stranded with. Write a poem or story about or to them.

    • timothy permalink
      May 3, 2011

      Totally missed that My Side of the Mountain was already mentioned in this post. Guess I was too stoked about the other wilderness-themed books of which I had not heard. Oops!

    • Hazel permalink
      May 3, 2011

      I had forgotten about the Foxfire books! I have always meant to read them, but never quite got around to it. In fact, I think my parents even have a few lying around their house, so now I have no excuse next time I’m there.

      Another survival book I find very entertaining and informative (as does a good friend of mine) is ‘The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook’ by Joshua Piven and David Borgenicht (the original; I have never checked out the many spinoffs).

      Love your writing prompt. It has given me much food for thought.

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