One day after I graduate Berry College, I want to pack my car with lots of shiny camping stuff - Ya' know the usual - a tent, a sleeping bag, food, matches, a hatchet, bug spray (because bugs are evil), and one of those nifty survival handbooks - and just start driving west.
I use to love hearing those stories about Native American boys that got sent out into the woods for weeks at a time to prove that they could be a man... and even though I have no interest in being a man I think the Natives had something there - humankind vs. nature. I think when someone does this they most definitely have to change or learn something about themselves. I've told a few friends this and they asked "wouldn't you want to take at least one person with you?" and I say "no! that defeats the entire purpose..."
I would go alone, and I would take a journal to document anything that I learned about myself. I would have the campfire and the wildlife to keep me company. I would probably have to take a cell phone so family and friends don't say annoying things like "I'm not going to let you go." Because then I would have to sneak and go - and that's annoying.
I've recently read Jack Kerouac's On The Road and his other book Big Sur - and these books fed the fire that had already been started when I was a child while reading Jack London's Call Of The Wild and Sea Wolf. There's something about Jacks taking on the world...
Of course all of this literary wonder was inspiring, but there is something definitely wrong with the entire picture... all of the protagonists are dudes...
My dad taught me how to navigate through woods, hunt, load and shoot a rifle, use a hatchet to gather firewood, and use a pocket knife to whittle down an end of a long stick or limb to cook food on. I grew up very close to woods and went hiking in them for the majority of my childhood. I really feel like I can do this.
I've always loved the idea of being out in the wild all alone, but I think now there's something else driving this growing need home... and that is - I don't feel like an adult. I have no idea why that would be other than I only live an hour away from home. I don't feel like I've actually transitioned from being a kid to being an adult who knows exactly who they are. I need to conquer something!!! And what's better than conquering or overcoming nature?
Nothing... that's what. I'm not sure how far I would go until I turned around... but something tells me I'd reach California and probably start heading north for Canada. Have you ever seen a moose? One of the strangest things I've ever seen... and I think it's a shame that the English language gave the goose the plural form "geese" but wouldn't give the moose his plural "meese"... it isn't fair so I call them meese to myself... and I name all animals I come in contact with George.
I see you have recently come back to blogging, and that is always exciting.
ReplyDeleteThere is something about taking off into nature that is very tempting to me, but I know I am nowhere near prepared to take something like that on myself. :( I say...be careful but go for it. (The cell phone is probably a good idea, just incase you find yourself in a serious situation).
And I can identify with the "not feeling grow up" feeling.