Rick's Journal

The Newfoundland Expedition, August 2011, Part Vl

2011-10-27T00:56:00.001-04:00

The Norse Sod House at L'anse aux Meadows

Part Six of our Journey begins with a great breakfast of pancakes and then we headed up the road to L'anse aux Meadows. It was overcast, and the clouds looked like lead waves across the sky. It was cold, too, but I was too excited to worry about it! We were heading to the first Norse site in North America!

I had done some research about this place before coming all of this way, but I will admit that I didn't spend days on it. I did this deliberately, because I wanted there to be something new to discover and enjoy that process when I got there. So heading to this site, this World Heritage Site, meant being open to learning something new.

The Commemorative Sculptures of the meeting of the European and Native Cultures
at L'anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland, Canada

A reproduction of a small Norse
sailing vessel

At the entrance to the park, we stopped to watch a huge bull moose browse in a bog off of the park road. It seemed like a good omen, and yet we didn't take as many pictures as we usually did. It wasn't really something we talked a lot about, visiting this site, but we were all seemed to have a sense of anticipation about being so close.

Abigail and Nicole
inside the Norse
Sod House

The visitor's center is a beautiful building, very modern and yet nestled in against the hill in away that seemed almost natural. We got inside and the exhibits started immediately, describing humanity's origins, and the journey we have taken from our humble roots in Africa across the vast ancient continents. It illustrated the journey of one group that moved across Asia, down into Southeast Asia and Australia, as well as north into Siberia and across the Bering Strait. That group moved downwards through the Americas all the way to the tip of what is now Argentina, as well as across North America.

The Norse Blacksmithing Shop

Close up of the
Sod House Peat Wall

The other group moved throughout Africa, the Middle East and then through the Mediterranean, and northern Europe, and eventually, north through the Black Sea to Iceland and Greenland. Of course, this took centuries, and our ancestors adapted to these new climates and environments that defy description in their variations and complexity. Eventually, the Norse seafarers sailed to the tip of Newfoundland and created a settlement there for several years.

Door Carvings to the Master's
Sleeping Quarters

Norse Tent looking out towards
Labrador and the bay

A boat in the process
of being built from
local wood with
authentic tools

The actual mounds left from the Norse
Dwellings from 1,100 AD

The thought of humanity's journey had never really occurred to me in quite this way. I moved through the exhibits with care, reading each one and looked at the archeological evidence that the scientists discovered and verified this site's Norse authenticity. We watched a video of the discoverers, and then we headed out on the tour.

Our tour guide was born and raised in northern Newfoundland, in one of the tiny communities that hug the coast, and her stories and heavy local accent added a lot to the presentation.

We saw the mounds where the Norse dwellings were located, now covered in thick grass overlooking the cove and the ocean, along with a few rocky islands.

Close-up of the Norse Boat

After the tour, we entered the Sod house, which was made by stacking 'bricks' of peat, into very thick walls lined with poles, and even covered the roof of the house, upon which grew thick grass and wildflowers.

Charcoal for the Forge

The Charcoal Pit

Inside, the house was very dark but cozy and warm, with several interpreters who worked on crafts and explained how life was like in the Norse community, 1,100 AD. We saw the blacksmithing forge, but unfortunately the blacksmith was off on the day we came, but the forge was great to see. There was a charcoal making pit, as well as barrels where they broke it into small pieces for use in the forge to get the iron ore extremely hot.

Ben samples the Brewis, a local fish dish

The woodwork involved in taking rough logs from the forest and crafting doors, planks, tool handles and boats was apparent throughout the site. We saw carvings on the door to the Leader's Quarters, which, they explained, was designed to squeak and make noise as someone passed through to alert the sleeper in case of attack. I guess it was an early form of security alarm!

It looked like the Norse would have had a busy day every day to gather firewood needed for the winter, food, fishing, making tools, building the houses, keeping healthy and tanning hides... I don't think they were sitting around much! However, it was very quiet and peaceful inside the Sod House, with a deep, earthy feeling that we really enjoyed. It felt very similar to the native American Earth Lodges I have been in, and the area around their settlement was beautiful, clean and fresh

The Viking Burger

I walked back to the Visitor's Center on my own, soaking in the area. I did not expect how deeply this meeting of the Human family, this convergence of Cultures, would affect me. I saw cloudberry plants, moose tracks on the boardwalks and I spent time with the sculptures again too. I could feel the courage and strength in the Norse travelers, in the Native voyagers who fished these waters and hunted these lands for thousands of years. These peoples faced open oceans, fierce predators and intense climates using clothing and gear they made themselves with resources from nature, and their strength was steeped in the land all around me. It wasn't just the Norse/Viking peoples, but all peoples who traveled far to rest on the shores, on the land where I now stood.

Mittens made from local craftspeople
with felted wool, at the Dark Tickle.
They looked very warm!

When we all regrouped at the car, we were in the mood for food. The interpreters told us to go for the Viking Burger at The Northern Delight Restaurant in Gunner's Cove, so we had some ideas as to what to look for! When we got there, they had a nice craft shoppe and art gallery as well as the restaurant, and we got some food. Ben went for the local Newfoundland fare, called 'Brewis':

"Fish and brewis is another popular seafood dish. Brewis is hard tack, softened by cooking in pork fat along with the cod. The best part of this dish is the scrunchions, which are small, crunchy pieces of fat-back pork. They’re extremely tasty, and they make this meal. Fish and brewis can frequently be found on café and restaurant menus."

A Beautiful Scarf
At the Dark Tickle

Japhy got the Mussels Special, which was fresh that day, and I forget what Nicole and Abigail got that day. I got the Viking Burger, though I was tempted to get fish and chips! Ben said later he wished he had gotten the burger, because it looked so good, but he was glad he tried something new for the experience. I was proud of him! For the record, the burger was excellent too!

After our meal, we found ourselves stopping at a small shop where a carver worked antler, whale bone and soapstone. He told us stories of gathering berries, finding moose antler sheds, caribou and polar bear stories and how unusual the icebergs were to still be around in the coves. We really loved hearing the stories of the local people, who were happy to share and exchange tales as we enjoyed the shops and crafts.

Heading into St Anthony

The next shop we visited was the Dark Tickle, (a tickle is the Newfoundland term for a narrow inlet between the hills, by the bay), and this place had everything! Ice cream, woolen goods, (mittens, socks, sweaters, hats and scarves), lots of books, jewelery, great t-shirts, artwork and lots and lots of jams, jellies, syrups, teas, coffees and other locally produced goods. The production line for their canning and preserving and processing was in the large room right off of the store, with huge windows you could look in and see the staff making the latest fresh fruit preserves! It was closed when we were there, though, as we got there late in the day.

The Icebergs of St Anthony's Bight, looking across from the town.

All across Newfoundland I saw various cloudberry syrup, bakeapple jam, partridgeberry preserves, crowberry and squashberry jelly and much more. The variety of berries in this northern place was amazing and I wanted to try them all. I bought several different varieties to bring home for the family to sample and enjoy, but the best thing of all was tasting the actual berries out in the barrens, in the fresh, sweet ocean air, listening to the sound of gulls calling and the cracking and grinding of ice.

Young Newfoundland Entrepreneurs!

Another thing I had never seen before was woolen scarves and hats made using the Norse knitting method called naallbinding. This is a beautiful method that makes for a durable, warm, thick product, and I got a DVD and a moose antler needle for Trista to learn with back home, since she is a crafty person and a knitter! It is a great method, and the next time I come up to Newfoundland I will try to find someone who will give me a personal lesson in how to do it so I can teach others!

The coolest earrings I saw were made of arrowheads shaped from Newfoundland Chert, by Tim Rast. I am hoping to see if we can visit him when we come up again and get some lessons and hear some stories about making native arrowheads, Inuit style points, etc. His work is excellent, detailed and authentic!

We headed out again, and the sun had burst through the cloud layer and it was warming up. We went into St Anthony, to get some supplies, check email and see if we could find some fresh fish to cook for dinner. We were amazed to see more icebergs, bright and huge, crowding the bay. These were massive, twice as big as a large New England Barn, and again, we were speechless. The blue sky reflected deep blue streaks in the brilliant white ice, a color so incredible it looked fake. It was like a blue raspberry slush!

We saw a cute roadside stand that we had to take a picture of, where three local kids were selling iceberg ice (by donation, actually!) It was awesome, and their mom and dad came down and sat with us to enjoy the warm weather and sunshine.

It was an amazing day, one of the best (I always say that, because it's true!) and our experiences were growing in leaps and bounds. Our companions were getting along well, and our food was good and there were new and unique things to see and do around every corner!

To Be Continued...

Just a note about the pictures in my blog: Evidently, if you click on one of the photos, you can see the original size of the picture, and a whole string of photos underneath, of all of the pictures in each blog entry. It is great to see them large, in detail, so check them out!

The Newfoundland Expedition, August 2011, Part V

2011-10-21T01:52:00.000-04:00

Heading North on the Viking Trail

Well, after the Baker's Brook Falls hike and the long day yesterday, I woke up sore but happy. We made our breakfast, said goodbye to Ranger Harold and packed up the tent and hit the road.

We headed north on the Viking Trail towards St Anthony, (which the locals call "S'nanty") and L'anse aux Meadows. The clouds drifted on a high ceiling, giving us views of the mountains and the coastline, with occasional glimpses of bright sunshine. We drove through tiny towns like Cow Head, Savage Cove and Plum Point. Some of the communities were very, very small, and along the long western shore, the stores were few and far between. Most had gas, all kinds of convenience and food supplies, as well as hardware, fishing gear, building and plumbing supplies and even yarn and books. There are hand made sweaters, mittens, socks and tourist stuff like shirts, postcards and native jams and jellies. Locals hang out and drink coffee, talk about the weather and many asked us where we were from. I guess it was obvious that we were from out of town!

Nicole and our Pack Vehicle, taking a break near Port aux Choix

We drove, Abigail slept, and saw the trees get shorter and shorter. Even the Long Range Mountains faded from view and the inland landscape looked flat in places. It looked like the road was actually built with stone mined from different areas near the highway, as there were several pits and open areas where stone and rocky material was removed. Many streams and small rivers crossed the highway, and small ponds and lakes were surrounded by green tuckermore and boggy brush. It felt, well, 'northern', if that is any description. I don't know how to really describe what driving through this landscape was like, and the pictures just don't do it justice, either. It was a vast, open, wild feeling that was good. It was fresh, and clean and sweet and a deep earth energy that was unique to anything I have ever felt in the wilderness before.

Wild Strawberries, Raspberries
and Skunkberries

Ben sighted a moose at one point, and we pulled off the highway to take a look. It was a small male, and by the time I changed batteries in my camera, I missed the shot, but I took a walk around anyway, just to stretch our legs a bit after the long drive.

Our Camp at Pistolet Bay Provincial Park, Newfoundland

I didn't really mention this before, but heading north is like going back in time, from a seasonal point of view. It was late August, and I looked down at my feet and saw the last thing I ever expected to see: Wild Strawberries. Ripe, too! I couldn't believe it! At Hawk Circle, we have ripe wild strawberries in early June to the first week of July, at the latest. But there, in the far northern tip of Newfoundland, was mature, sweet, red berries! I saw another bush of berries that the locals called 'Skunkberries' but they looked like a type of current or gooseberry, so maybe they are in the same family. I also saw many raspberries, too. However, we didn't see cloudberries, which was one berry I just was dying to see in it's natural habitat, and taste it. Most people on the Rock call this berry 'Bakeapple' for reasons I don't quite know, but we had a taste of cloudberry cheesecake at the Jigg's Dinner in Rocky Harbor and that was out of this world, so I was looking for them everywhere!

Cooking French Fries!

Venison Hot Dogs over the Campfire!

We drove on an on, further and further, along the one road to the northern tip of Newfoundland. By mid-afternoon, we reached the Pistolet Bay Provincial Park, and found a campsite in a light drizzle. We set up our tents, then our tarps, and we bundled up because it was COLD! There was fog and a light breeze so we got a fire going and cooked some venison hot dogs I had brought from home, and we made french fries, too. We made about ten small batches, all in all, and it really hit the spot.

These didn't last long!

Ben and Abigail said they saw a large rabbit, possibly an arctic hare, hopping around one of the near by campsites. We saw squirrels, who looked hungry and accustomed to raiding campsites for food, so we packed everything up before heading over to St Anthony to see what was happening in the town. It was too late to go to L'anse aux Meadows, because we wanted to have a full day over there to enjoy it and take our time...

Anyone want hot chocolate???

Roadside Gardens!

Mittens!

Another thing that was totally unique and new to us while we were driving around up there was the Roadside Gardens. In the seeming middle of nowhere, (and I mean literally miles from the nearest house or anything) on the side of the roads, were plots of potatoes, onions, chard, collards, beets and other vegetables. Most had makeshift fences all around them, to keep out the moose and caribou, I guess, and they had flags of tattered and worn cloth or other markers tied to sticks or poles to help their owners find them easily while driving.

St Anthony's Bight

This fascinated Nicole, who, as I said before, loved any type of gardening and growing of plants. We stopped and looked at one up close and took a few pictures. It seemed crazy to plant a garden so far from your home, where you could look after it and tend and care for it, but there they were, in the wilderness, on the side of the highway.

Ben goes in the Arctic water

Piles of firewood were stacked, too, in a similar way, left out to season on flat areas off the road, with poles and split wood, some stacked neatly and others just piled in heaps or left as whole logs fresh off the truck. Again, with all of the campers driving by, you would think handfuls of logs would disappear for campfire wood, but we saw no evidence of this anywhere on our trip.

Bakeapples or Cloudberries!

A small berry of sweet Arctic lightness!

Local people explained it to us like this: All of the communities were so tightly bound together for their livelihoods and culture, that it was impossible to steal anything from anyone without being caught almost instantly. Everyone would know. So their culture was to leave everything that wasn't yours alone, and respect it, and others will do the same for your things. Once roads began connecting these communities together, it was too late to change and so most people are still trusting and crime is virtually non-existent. I could feel this deep sense of respect for both the earth and community and each other permeating throughout the culture while we were there. I am sure there are exceptions and other stories, and I am not being naive in my assessment. I am sure that newcomers have brought some of their ways into the culture, but overall, you will have to go there to really 'get it' and see what I mean.

I think this is a seal jawbone

Anyway, right before we got to the town, we saw a small sign marked 'St Anthony's Bight' and we turned and followed it, because I remembered reading about it in my pre trip research as a place to observe icebergs and wildlife. We collectively gasped when we came over a slight rise to catch a view of the bay, filled with massive chunks of ice.

We drove to the trail head, then headed down to the bay to get as close as we could. All banter and chit chat between us as traveling comrades vanished, and we were overwhelmed with a sense of awe and power. The icebergs had broken off the glaciers of Greenland and traveled over a year to get to the Newfoundland waters, and a strong wind had pushed them into the small coves and bays, to run aground and slowly melt and break apart.

I had told everyone that the ice was made originally from snows that had fallen in Greenland over 10,000 years ago, and been compressed into ice. This means it was pure, and from clouds that had crossed North America during it's 'Mega Fauna' period, with huge dire wolves, cave bears and wooly mammoths. It was thousands of years before the industrial revolution, before pollution. Seriously ancient, primordial water.

I think that was what made being in their presence so powerful, for me at least. I can't speak for my companions. I took a short video on my camera and tried to explain it, but I don't know if it really comes through.

Japhy, Abigail and Ben exploring the cove

We explored the shore, picking our way along to get closer to some big rocks and big ice. At one point, Ben took his shoes off and went iceberg surfing. He managed to find a large piece of ice that we brought back to the car to use to keep our food cold, and to slip smaller pieces into our water bottles. That ice was so sweet, well, it was better than any water I have ever drank...

When we got to the rocks and climbed up to the top, the ground was covered with a thick layer of plants that grew almost like moss, and I saw a few dark, almost black berries that I recognized as Crowberries. And then I saw the Cloudberries! They grew in tiny patches, or on their own, with lots of space all around, in that open place. They are red when they are first formed, then slowly they turn orange/peach as they ripen. One taste of the ripe berries is instantly tart and intense, then as you wait the flavor becomes, well, light, and airy, really, like a cloud or a beam of light through the clouds. That's the only way I can really describe it, and the rest of our group seemed to think it was pretty accurate, too. It was so great to find them there on the headlands, and see those massive bergs and hear the gulls. We didn't want to leave.

10,000 year old ice

Eventually we headed into town and looked for a small restaurant but nothing really appealed to us so we went to a Jungle Jim's (also located as part of a hotel) and tried to get a wifi signal to be able to check our email, and we ended up going to Tim Horton's and getting hot chocolate and donuts before heading back to camp. Even in the dark, in the middle of town, you could hear the icebergs cracking and grinding against each other, calving off chunks into the bay as they slowly melted. It was weird and cool and crazy all at the same time.

Tomorrow, we go to the Norse site!

To Be Continued...

The Newfoundland Expedition, August 2011, Part lV

2011-10-19T01:24:00.001-04:00

Abigail and Japhy enjoy a sunny, windy day at the Tablelands!

Our next adventure in Newfoundland was one of the longest, too. Not in hours but in activity and movement. We got up early and ate, then headed out to the Tablelands, a rocky, barren area that is the real reason that Gros Morne was chosen and designated as an UNESCO World Heritage Site, with surface rocks from the earth's mantle, that closely resemble the geology of Mars. NASA is even doing research there for their eventual trip to the Red Planet.

Peridotite, from the Earth's Mantle

The Amazing, Delicious, 'Trista Bars'

Nicole is a serious geology student and enthusiast, and she loves rocks almost as much as mushrooms and farming! She was in heaven, and we all were amazed by the ways the landscape looked like the desert Southwest. It was awesome! We had a wonderful Ranger to showed us all kinds of things about the rocks, calcium deposits, all kinds of ways plants and trees were adapting to the harsh winds, poor soils and difficult terrain. He was great, funny and had a wonderful presentation that was warm and friendly.

The Tablelands, Gros Morne National Park, Western Newfoundland, Canada

We walked up the end of the trail, and seriously contemplated climbing the ridge to the top and traveling along the crest to descend into the basin where the waterfalls were flowing, but the wind was intense and we had other places to go.

The incredibly tough and resourceful pitcher plant

Still, it was hard to go to Trout Brook and pull Ben and Abigail from this adventure. I still feel guilty about it! Seriously! (Ben, if you are reading this, I promise we will make that hike/climb next summer!)

We snacked on sandwiches, fruit, some chips, and the awesome chocolate chip, coconut, and walnut bars that Trista made for us for our trip. We called these 'Trista Bars' and one of them, heck, even half of one, would keep you from feeling hungry for a few hours. And they really tasted great. Very homey and warm and we loved them during our long drives and hikes.

We traveled to the end of the road, and saw another fishing community and valleys wide and vast that just begged to be explored and experienced...

Serpentine? Nicole probably knows
what it is for sure!

We ended up stopping at the Park's Visitors Center in Woody Point. It is fantastic. It is modern, and beautiful, and the art! The Art! There are Artist's in Residence whose work covered the walls, and the children's art of the park wildlife was so sweet and insightful that it touched us! Well, I am pretty sure that it did for me and Nicole, but I can't say for sure for the rest of our group.

The Tablelands Boardwalk Trail

The large relief map of Gros Morne was especially insightful. We didn't realize how tall Berry Hill was, or how massive Gros Morne Mountain was either, or how deep the fjiords were in Western Brook Pond. We talked to some of the rangers about fishing, and hiking the Long Range Traverse, which we were still debating hiking at some point on our trip.

Peas Pudding, Salt Beef (Corned Beef),
Potatoes, Beets, Carrots, Turnips, Stuffing,
Blueberry Cake Pudding, Pickled Peppers
and lots of Gravies!

After we left the Visitor's Center, we drove back through the forests and waterfalls and mountains and meadows, seeing moose again and rivers that looked like they were loaded with fish. We stopped at the Gros Morne Mountain trailhead, and hiked up to the first lookout, over a rushing stream. We saw moose antler rubs, on huge saplings. We found bunchberries everywhere, and birch trees, spruces, balsam firs and lots of birch and alders.

Abigail enjoys the Jigg's Dinner

It was starting to get late, so we headed down to explore Rocky Harbor, and get some money exchanged at the bank and do some shopping. Louise Decker had shown us a flyer for a community fundraiser at a local church called a "Jigg's Dinner", and we wanted to check it out.

We went through a couple of stores and craft shops, and I got some Cloudberry Jelly and Partridge Berry preserves, too, as well as some postcards to send home. There were sweaters, and mittens and socks, all hand made, and there were a lot of polar fleece jackets and rain gear items that looked like tourist travelers would grab them up when it got cold and foggy outside in all seasons. Luckily, it was sunny and warm, so we were all set.

Ben chows down!

We headed up to the church, where we saw the signs and the cars! It was filling up fast, so we went inside and got tickets! Then we sat down, and saw that Harold Snow, our park ranger friend, was there, with his wife, and lots of other local folks. Ben sat next to an older woman whose accent was so strong I doubt he understood a quarter of what she was saying! But she was so kind and sweet and they had a good time!

I sat next to a guy from Nova Scotia who told me stories of the "black flies in Labrador that were so intense that they covered your arm if you rolled down your window to adjust your mirror... your arm would look black and then when you wiped them off, it would be bloody!"

Yeah, really makes me want to go there... (Maybe after it gets cold?)

When they called my number, we got to go up as a group for plates of home made food that was hearty and flavorful, with all kinds of vegetables, meats, 'puddings' and sauces that really hit the spot after a long day of hiking and driving. Local preserves, pickles, gravies, everything... We were all so glad we went! I was so full I didn't even go up for desert. The hardest thing was that it was difficult to hear in the large room with so many people having good conversations. I wanted to hear everything about what these people were saying, and share some time with them. It was a great feeling.

The boardwalk trail to Baker's Brook Falls

Ranger Harold heard that Nicole and Abigail wanted to go up to Baker's Brook Falls, so he invited us to hike out there with him, to work off the meal. We met in the parking lot and started off down the trail. It was a long series of wooden boardwalks, passing over bogs and wetlands, to protect the roots of the trees and plants. Ranger Harold is tall and has a stride like an elk, moving swiftly and easily in a subtle, kilometer eating gait that left us in the dust a few times. We passed through areas where the moose had been eating and scraping their antlers, and I was grateful for the momentary breaks where Harold told us stories about the trees and different park issues to catch my breath for the next section of trail.

The clearings in the northern forests

The trail passed through open areas and was fairly level, across a lightly sloping plain that led us towards the river. The sunlight was soft and hazy in the evening light, and I stopped for a few pictures every chance I got. When we got to the river, we took pictures at some of the overlooks, and the water was high and loud. It was tannic, like most of the waters of Newfoundland, with that deep brown tea color that looked almost black in the fading light.

It is hard to describe what it feels like to actually be standing in this place, with air fresh and moist...

Ranger Harold Snow, Nicole, Abigail, me and Ben
at Baker's Brook Falls

Harold headed us back as quickly as we came, knowing we had many kilometers still to go on our return trip. As we moved down through the meadows, the clearings of fallen trees, we saw the clear, huge outline of a bull moose, it's antlers jutting upwards against the western sky. It's shoulders were huge, and it looked ten feet tall. Everyone was hushed as it moved in our direction, feeding and fearless of our presence. It was our first close encounter with a moose, and we tried to take pictures but it was too dark to capture the dark haired beast. We moved on, letting him feed in peace, and saw another, and then another, each in their own clearing, crashing along, smashing small branches with their large hooves and strong legs.

The walk back seemed longer in the deepening gloom, but inside, our hearts were full of an amazing day of great food, great learnings, powerful encounters with stone and animals and waters of this place. It felt really, really good to head back to camp and crawl into my sleeping bag and slip into a deep, restful sleep.

To Be Continued...

The Newfoundland Expedition, August 2011, Part lll

2011-10-14T01:16:00.000-04:00

A hand made lobster trap made with spruce boughs

Okay, so, in Part lll of our Expedition blog, I have to explain a few things. First of all, I have to say that our trip was not just a sight seeing adventure. We were seeking something else, something deeper and powerful, a connection to the land where huge beasts roam, through thick, primordial green forests and crystal waters and ancient ice giants.

We wanted to be affected by these places, and feel something, and see if something deep and ancient would awaken inside of us.

At least, that was the feeling I had when we would all be packed in our car. Everyone would be quiet and looking outside the windows, absorbing everything. We would stop someplace amazing and fall out of the car and just gaze in every direction, each in our own way soaking it all in...

The rocks at Broom Point

Japhy, Ben, Abigail and myself are all Waldorf School graduates. Japhy had attended the Aurora Waldorf School in East Aurora, NY (near Buffalo), Ben and Abigail had attended the Waldorf School of Baltimore, and I attended the Sacramento Waldorf School in California and Hawthorne Valley Waldorf School in the Hudson Valley of NY. So that shared background helped provide fun stories, jokes and we had a lot of creativity in our adventures.

And Nicole, well, she is pretty creative and expressive too. In the past summer, she helped start a Farm/Garden Camp in the city of Atlanta, which is incredible, and has been involved in a lot of different initiatives and interests like mushrooms, plants, geology and gardening. We had some interesting conversations!

The ropes are hung to dry in the barn

Hand carved native
spruce net floats!

Louise gifts us with Newfoundland Tartan

There is something about a road trip that magnifies or compresses time. On this trip, we never knew what was around the corner, or down the road, or where we were going next except in the most general sense, and each day, each hour seemed to bring us to a wonderful new world.

On this day, our first in Gros Morne, we woke to rain. Our tent was a little leaky but we were doing well. One thing that we discovered was the Berryhill Campground Kitchen Shelter. It was amazing! There are two big sinks with hot and cold water, and a large modern lean to with lights and two woodstoves, where we could warm up, dry out our clothes, even cook on the top of the stove. Some of the park rangers dropped off some wood for us, as we made breakfast of bagels, toast, eggs and cereal. It was awesome! We spent some time chatting with the rangers, who were happy to talk seeing as most of the rest of the campers had cleared out due to the rain.

On the wall of the lean to was a calendar with the Gros Morne Park Interpretive Programs schedule, and their descriptions looked good, so we headed up the coast to Broom Point to see the cultural and historical interpretive presentation about fishing and the history of the coastal towns in the park.

Louise's fish cutting knife,
simple but highly effective!

This peg board helped her
keep track of the lobster traps

Louise Decker was just a young woman when she started fishing, and we learned all about how she built her first dory with her new husband and took to the seas to catch cod and lobster. We learned about the newly built roads that connected these small communities by land for the first time in over three hundred years. Her accent took a bit to get used to, but it was wonderful. Her stories were full of emotion, with lots of humor, toughness, and grief from the loss of the fishery crash and friends lost at sea.

We learned about lobsters, about how she cut and cleaned the fish, preparing it for salting and drying. It was wonderful and she made small nets expertly and gave them to people in the audience. She had small, handmade tools for just about every job, all hand crafted from native woods, and things found or salvaged from other items, demonstrating creativity and practicality.

Louise Decker's
Fishcakes and Cod Nuggets!

Because she was one of the first women to fish, she had to make her own tools to fit her smaller hands and size, but you can tell that she pulled her own weight every day. Each item was well worn, with years of use. They reminded me of certain knives I have used for years at Hawk Circle, or hatchets, with handles worn smooth from strong hands, weather, and long hours of carving or chopping...

After her stories, demonstrations, questions and answer period and showing us the boats, nets, tools and buildings, she invited us inside for tea, molasses cookies, home made cod cakes and cod nuggets that she had prepared and cooked for us earlier in the wood fired cookstove. Her stories never stopped and she never stood still for a moment, passing out food and strips of cloth Newfoundland Tartan for us to take home.

Lobster Cove Lighthouse

All of this was totally unexpected and greatly appreciated, and we had many warm conversations and good feelings with Louise as well as the other park visitors. Then the sun came out and turned the water from a gray black to a brilliant blue, and we could even begin to see the shapes of the massive Long Range Mountains, (northern most tip of the Appalachian Mountains) behind the clouds. We sat in the warmth, enjoying the fresh sea air, the scent of balsam fir and salt and took it all in.

Eventually we headed back, to explore other parts of the park. It wasn't long before we saw our first group of moose in the daylight! They were massive and strong, crushing small trees with their feet and their long legs easily stepping over logs and seedlings as they browsed along the lush plants near the roadway. We watched them for a long time, taking pictures and talking in low whispers about everything we were seeing.

When the moose had gone into the deeper brush, we went further, stopping just before the campsite to check out the Lighthouse at Lobster Cove. We hung out there for a while, enjoying the calls of a raven who sat upon the tower and croaked to us throughout the late afternoon. We had a great view of Rocky Harbor, whose local pronunciation was something like "Roque 'arbor", with the H being silent and the whole name spoken as one word. It never felt natural for me to say it like that, so I am glad there wasn't a test! Rocky Harbor is a small town that had craft stores, food, supplies and a few restaurants, so we drove through it and then headed back to the camp to make dinner.

Looking South from the Lighthouse

If I didn't say our dinner of Burritos with Black Beans and Pinto Beans, cheese and all kinds of toppings, was awesome and delicious, I know our group would kill me! We ate and then headed up to the top of Berry Hill to see if we could see any moose coming out in the meadows and bogs to feed in the growing dusk. The trail winds around this little nub of a hill like a corkscrew, and at the top, continues around in a circle for views in every direction. The sunset was orange and red and we did see several moose in the far distance, which was cool. The sky had cleared and it was looking like a nice night with a nice day to follow.

To Be Continued...

The Newfoundland Expedition, August 2011, Part ll

2011-10-11T22:30:00.000-04:00

Abigail sleeps well in the car!

We were all exhausted from our two full days of driving, packing, shopping and then the late night and early morning ferry ride pushed us all a little over the edge, so we decided to try to find a place to crash as soon as possible so we could all rest. We saw a place an hour or so north, a provincial park called Barachois Pond, so we headed up the TransCanada Highway. I would say, within fifteen minutes of driving, everyone was asleep except me and Japhy! We drove through forests, along the coast for a short while and past small towns, and small houses near the main road. The low clouds were misting some rain here and there, and we passed over several bridges over some wild rivers and streams that looked inviting, but I didn't stop until we got there. The sky cleared too, and the sun arrived. It soon got hot enough to swim, once we found our campsite and got our tent up, so we went into the water, which turned out to be very tannic and tea colored. It was surprisingly warm, too, and felt good on my skin, reminding me of the cedar swamp Pine Barrens water of central New Jersey.

The Tannic Waters of Barachois Pond!

I retired for a much needed nap and when I awoke, dinner was ready. Ben, Nicole, Japhy and Abigail had found some freshwater mussels and cooked them up with spaghetti noodles and sauce, which was an amazing meal. We even found a few tiny pearls in some of those shells! After dinner, we all walked up to the bathrooms and showers, to clean up, fill up our water bottles and hang out. I sat and talked to one of the park rangers who was checking out the facilities, and he stopped and visited for easily thirty or forty minutes. It was our first real taste of the famed Newfie friendliness! We talked about health care, about US politics, about the park and the best trails, and the different things to see along the western coast, and much more. He was really interested in learning about where we were from, and he couldn't believe that our country didn't have national healthcare. He kept telling us about how he had such a small deductible for just about any visit! He was a very warm person and very proud of the park and the trails and beautiful wilderness areas we could see all around us.

Erin Mountain and Barachois Pond, Newfoundland

Moose Droppings!

On his recommendation, we decided to hike up Erin Mountain, our first hike on the Rock! We made some bagels for breakfast, in the rain, and then packed up some stuff for our walk and headed up. It was about 6 kilometers, and seemed to take a while to walk through the rest of the campground to get to the bridge and the trailhead, but once we got there, we were in the woods! Moss was everywhere, growing thick and soft, covering almost the entire forest floor. Moose tracks and scat were scattered along the trail as well, with broken and heavily browsed twigs and branches lining the wetlands near the path. The air was deeply fresh and smelled of balsam fir, spruce and tamarack, and more than anything, was just, well, clean, for lack of a better word. It was pure, fresh air and it was delicious!

Taking a rest in light rain on Erin Mountain

The trail had nice boardwalks in stretches that turned into stairs that led ever higher towards the summit, and we got to the top for an incredible view. The rain and wind had increased, blowing horizontally at times and the forest gave way to a rocky barrens covered in low shrubbery that provides forage for caribou. It was 'tuckermore' as far as the eyes could see! We didn't see any caribou out there, but there were small ponds, streams and low growing trees that were thick and strong. Bunchberries grew in vast patches everywhere. I even saw a few blueberries! We could see far in many directions, with mountains and even a glimpse of a great bay far to the west. It was well worth the intense climb!

Enjoying the wind and rain!

The wind picked up and we headed down the mountain. By the time we got to the bridge it was sunny and warming up. It didn't take long to pack up our campsite and load up the car for the trip north towards Corner Brook, and then up past Deer Lake and into Gros Morne. Gros Morne is the jewel of Newfoundland, with huge mountains along the coast, fast rivers, vast forests, a unique area where the earth's geologic mantle is exposed called the Tablelands, and the fjiords! And moose! I had researched these places online all winter and spring, and it was exciting to be so close to seeing it all!

Once on the road, we somehow got the idea in our heads that we wanted to taste Newfoundland Cod, or Fish and Chips, or something from the local area, so when we got to Corner Brook, the largest urban area on the west coast, we were very hungry! We started asking around to get the low down on where to go.

"C&E's" is the best place, in Mt Moriah, but it's a little out of the way" was the answer we got most of the time. But when pressed for something closer than 5 miles, they said we should try Jungle Jim's. So, we tried it. Lodged up against a hotel, near the highway, we walked into a Canadian version of Applebee's, TGI Fridays or Chili's. And there was a waiting time of thirty minutes! Back in the car we went!

C&E's Menu: Big Eric highly recommended!

Our humble eatery, and hidden treasure!

We wound around through Corner Brook and found ourselves deep in the suburban neighborhoods overlooking the beautiful bay, past the pulp mill and piles of logs, and along a small road looking for C& E's. I imagined it to look like a little seafood restaurant off the coast of Maine, all cute and rustic, maybe some rustic looking artwork or something, so we kept driving and looking. We passed it the first time, before we realized what it was. (See photo).

The Seafood Platter!

Anyway, despite the ordinary exterior, the ladies behind the counter were super friendly and helpful and explained everything on the menu. So we ordered. We got our food. We ate. We believed! We were in heaven. Sure, the ambiance was suburban drab mixed with roadside burger stand, but cars just kept coming and ordering, and the business was hoppin'. We weren't the only ones who were in on the secret! I ordered the Seafood Platter, with scallops, shrimp, a large piece of fresh Cod and clams. And coleslaw. And fries! It was soooooooo gooooood! Well worth the drive!

After we finished we rolled ourselves back in the car, and headed towards Gros Morne's Berry Hill Campground, our next camping destination. We passed incredible rivers, but soon the rain closed in, and the clouds dropped, and darkness settled on us, so we drove through the rain and dark, with most everyone sleeping as we went. The highway dropped steeply in places, and we saw our first moose in the road, in the black, speeding by. SCARY! Those things are huge! (And we see signs everywhere about the moose danger, so I drove a little slower once that happened, but we were very close so it was good!) We unloaded in the rain, set up our tent, covered it with rain tarps and got to sleep. It was a good day and we were ready for rest!

To Be Continued...

The Newfoundland Expedition, August, 2011

2011-10-10T00:45:00.000-04:00

Abigail's smiling because it is our first day of driving!

Ever since I was a kid, I have wanted to go north. I know those stories about White Fang and To Build A Fire, by Jack London, or any of the Farley Mowatt books. However, ever since 1989, I have run summer camps all summer, and never got up there.

Makin' dinner in Nova Scotia

This past August, I finally got my chance! I chose Newfoundland, as it was as far as we could go while still driving, and it was new terrain and a new culture too. I was accompanied by Nicole Bluh, Ben Gallagher, Abigail Liss and Japhy Czysz, and we packed our gear into my Xterra and headed north. There is a funny story about getting my passport renewed, and all of our camping gear organized, etc, but I won't go into all that drama! Eventually, we were packed and we headed out. My vehicle was packed to the roof and even the roof rack was loaded too. We first went to Albany and picked up Japhy at the Albany bus station, and then went to the health food store to stock up on some bulk items, (along with some very strange cheeses that Japhy got and shared with us!)

The Onion Roadrunner

We stopped at REI in Framingham a few hours later, for some last minute camping gear, and then headed towards New Hampshire and Maine. The landscape began to change as we moved into more coniferous forests, but it was still summer and we were feeling good! We camped by a river off of the main highway someplace near the border of New Brunswick that first night.

On the Ferry, looking east

In the morning, we met up with Nicole, Max, Brigitte and Charles Meneveaux just before we crossed the border. They were just returning from a road trip to Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, and we got all of the lowdown on bugs, moose and their adventures. They gave us some of their maps marked with cool places to go, as well as some travel guides and other info they had gathered on their journeys. It was really helpful, and we were even more excited after hearing some of their stories.

Sunrise on the Ferry! (It's a huge boat!)

Port aux Basques, in it's natural habitat

Eventually, we said farewell, and got to the border. Crossing into Canada took about an hour, and then we were in New Brunswick! That's when we began to experience Canadian culture, in the different road speeds (kilometers) gas (litres) and food (Tim Horton's)! New Brunswick was heavily forested with vast plateaus of conifers, including white pines, spruces, tamarack and hemlock. We didn't see a lot of mountainous areas, but it was still a change from Maine and New England. It just felt different, somehow. We drove for many hours and then began descending out of the hills towards Nova Scotia. We were still heading mostly east at this point, and the forest gave way slightly to fields and farmland amidst the woods. Nova Scotia had more flat land and some good farms, but there was a ton of woods and forest still, too. We stopped in the late afternoon someplace in the middle of that province, off of the main highway, along a small logging road, to make dinner and rest. It was hot, and I slept for an hour or so while the crew made a bowl of refried beans, chili and black beans, which we made into nachos. We even found a piece of wood that looked like a road runner and gave it an onion skin hat... We had a lot of creative energy that needed a little outlet!

The Northernmost End of the Appalachian Mountains

We drove through occasional rain and kept heading northeast to Sydney, a town on the far eastern corner of the province, to catch the ferry to Newfoundland. Our reservations were for 4:30 am, but we learned that we needed to be there two hours early for loading, so we ended up getting there around 11:00 pm. We got in line and then tried to sleep for a few hours in the car, on the roof of the ferry building, even on the chairs in the lounge... Eventually, we drove onto the boat, which was huge, by the way, and headed up to the passenger decks. The ferry ride was six to seven hours long, depending on wind, currents and other conditions, and I tried to sleep as much as I could. Abigail had slept during the afternoon drive so she was awake for the sunrise on the top deck, and eventually we all met up in the cafe/lounge to get our first glimpse of 'the Rock' as they call Newfoundland in the Canadian Maritimes.

The fog and light rain had begun when the ferry was about a half hour from the town of Port aux Basques, and the buildings we saw clinging to the rugged coastline were small and trim, with lots of trucks and boats and other fishing type equipment around many of them. It reminded me of some of the working towns in New York and New England, with an emphasis on practicality and function. The surprising thing that stood out was the lack of glitz, slick advertising and opulent buildings flaunting wealth and design. The Mall was a long, plain, one story building with a flat roof that housed stores whose names we didn't recognize, and a large parking lot with mini-vans and trucks. The differences in culture and values showed in many small and larger ways all throughout our visit up the western coast.

Alder thickets

Outside of the city, we left almost every sign of human habitation within a few kilometers, passing just a few roads and houses right off the TransCanada Highway. The landscape was instantly dominated by looming mountains, intense green thickets of alder, tamarack and spruce (called tuckermoor or simply 'tuck' by the locals). We jumped out of the car off the side of the highway and tried to clamber through the brush to get to a good viewpoint of the mountains, only to be thwarted by water, rough stones hidden in the sticks and branches that clung to our clothes, as if holding us back. Only Ben made it to some rocks high above the road, while the rest of us studied fireweed and the many plants blooming everywhere and taking pictures.
(To Be Continued...)

Mother's Day

2011-05-08T02:31:00.000-04:00

It's a day like any other, except it isn't. It's about your Mother. You remember? The person who carried you around for nine months, at great personal cost, then gave birth to you, then cared for you for years while you pooped, threw up, fell down, bumped your knees, learned to talk, have tantrums and get sassy. Does that ring a bell? Well, it should, because it's today.

I was thinking about Mother's Day because of two things. The first one is because of the Earth. The Earth is the mother to all of us. She cares for us, provides for us, gives us everything we need to live our lives and be part of the world. She provides pure water, fertile soils, fresh air, beautiful flowers and birds and gentle rains. She offers delicious foods, spices and sweet juices. She has animals and fish to help us as well. She offers all of these things for us to make our homes, our families and our communities good places for us all.

Except we don't respect her gifts. We think we can make them better, so we mess around with the seeds. We tear up the ground digging and drilling and bulldozing and mining. We spill our oil and we poison our lawns. We foul the air with our smoke and our chemicals. We throw away mountains of trash in our oceans and our soils, and expect her to take care of it for us. We don't respect her gifts or her, or really recognize her importance in our lives.

Have you ever had someone who left, who walked away when you took them for granted? Have you ever felt that feeling where you woke up and realized you took so much for granted, and you never shared how you really felt, or showed how you felt with your actions to back it up? Like when we don't stand up for a person who needs someone to 'have their back'? Don't we do that to the Earth day in and day out every day?

Yeah, I know what you're thinkin'. "Hey Rick, we already have a day for the Earth," you remind me. "It's called Earth Day, you know?"

Well, I don't think it is enough. We should call her by her real name, Mother. Because that is what she is. And honestly, I don't think picking up some trash or remembering to recycle once a year is really what we need right now. We need a lot more.

We need a big shift. A new mindset that brings about results and creates change. We need to experience it personally, ourselves, and it needs to be powerful. We need a deep inner change, not a bunch of minor action once a year. We need to then act on it every day, every time, and speak our truth about it and have Her back.

The scary thing is, we only get once chance at this. Once she is gone, we don't get a second chance. (See Japan's blown nuclear Reactor for more details about this. Or Chernobyl. Or fill in the blank Superfund Site.) Once we really mess up, it is gone forever, for all of us. FOREVER.

So I am thinking of her on this Earth Day, and raising a hand carved timber frame from sustainable wood grown locally. We built it with old tools, most from the mid 1800's, hand made by blacksmiths almost 200 years ago. We love those old tools, the chisels, the broad axes, the saws and drawknives. We love working with wood, and making something beautiful that will last for years and generations. It is our way of giving back and helping our communities and the land.

The second thing I was thinking about was my personal mom. Which got me to thinking about my past and my family. About how it was tough for her, raising three kids, alone, and moving from California to New York when I was nine, in 1973, and trying to figure things out. She worked hard to raise us, and I know she wished she could have done more for us, as our family grew to five kids, all with needs and demands that she alone just couldn't meet. It wasn't easy, but there were some good things that helped.

One was nature. I always had a love of the outdoors and play and adventure, and she encouraged this throughout my formative years. I roamed freely the woods, fields, swamps and mountains, and got to be out more than I was in. It made a huge difference for me, and it is one that helps me offer this to the students that come to us. For this I am grateful and happy.

The second was enrolling me in the Waldorf School. I was first a student at the Sacramento Waldorf School and then when we moved to New York, at the Hawthorne Valley Waldorf School. Both where pioneering schools then, still growing and finding their way. I know it was challenging for the teachers and the parents and the kids in lots and lots of ways. But this helped me tons, and I had lots of mentors and people who cared about me and my friends and I was inspired and given tools. Lots and lots and lots of tools. And skills, and ways of seeing and being that make a difference.

So thanks, Mom. You did good. You still do good. I love you both. Have a happy day!

Earth Skills Semester Program student goes Bark Crazy!

2010-11-26T12:44:00.002-05:00

It is always great when a past student gives you an idea of what they have done with the foundation of skills you provided years ago, and let's you know how you have impacted their life and those around them through your time spent together. Stefan Thompson is just one such student. He has made all kinds of bark shelters that are more than just a structure. They are works of art, a labor of love and actually create community through their building and daily life. There is a magic to them that you can feel as you sit and warm yourself by the fire, drink a cup of herbal tea or cook something good over the coals....

I don't think most people really get how much work it is to gather and peel the amount of bark you need to have to make a shelter like this. It is just massive, and getting long, wide, thick sheets of birch bark is just so precious! I am looking forward to getting some pics of the insides of these places, and the people who put them all together, too...

I just wanted to let you know that while most people aren't going to build a wigwam to live in through the Canadian winters, you could! That says a lot for the type of training Hawk Circle students get when they spend a longer time here, exploring their natural world and their place in it... These shelters look like they belong here, and like they are part of the living landscape! The natural artwork is really great, too.

Nice work, Stefan and thanks for sharing this with us all! Very inspiring!

View from the tree stand: A bow hunter's story

2010-11-14T23:00:00.001-05:00

There are a lot of things that happen when I go bow hunting. First, there is getting up early. That in itself, is a change of routine for me, as I am usually more of a night owl. Then, there are the clothing/scent issues. Staying clean, warm and smelling like the woods is important. I try to dress quickly, and check to see how cold it is, to see how many layers I will need to stay warm while sitting still for those cold hours.

Once outside, I figure out which way the wind is blowing, as this will help me determine where to go. I head out along the trails, moving as silently as possible in the dim light. When I get to my spot, I either climb my tree stand, or I will sit at the base of a tree, or jumble of logs and branches and settle in. It is important to get comfortable as I know I am going to be there for a while.

Then, I drift in and out of sleep, my awareness moving from the direction of the wind, light tendrils of dream consciousness pulling me to relax, the smell of the woods, the sounds of the red squirrels waking up and chickadees trilling in the ironwoods. If I am by a small stream or spring, I can hear the steady trickle of water that can sound both faint and loud. I am not sure why it suddenly can seem so loud that it is all I hear, and then it can almost disappear.

The forest lightens as the sun rises, and trees and branches come into sharp relief. The colors of the November woods is beautiful, with greys, browns, black and tan colors melding together so softly, waiting for the snow that is sure to come soon.

I lean against my tree, and feel my heartbeat, my breath rhythmical and deep, and the forest begins to envelop my senses, accepting me as part of the whole system. It is a good feeling and it makes me happy, knowing I belong and am home again.

The sound of hooves crunching through leaves comes sharply, startling me, and my heart jumps. Tiny twigs break as a deer approaches. My senses come alive as I strain to see the first glimpse of the forest ghost, the white tail. The direction of travel, my scent trail, the wind and shadows all come into play as I sit up, and ready my arrow. Any discomfort, cold or cramps are gone, and there is nothing except the pure focus of the predator.

I wait perfectly still, heart still pounding. The deer pauses, hesitating, and nibbling on raspberry canes, waiting for something. There is no sense of fear, of warning or stress, and I imagine myself a shadow along the tree, or a slight, drifting mist, no longer human hunter but only benign forest elemental being.

The deer steps into the trail, coming closer, step by step. I see that she is a yearling, a small tiny deer, hardly bigger than my dog. She is stout and strong, but I know that this is not my deer. It resonates deep in my chest, my gut, and I lower my bow, ever so slowly. The deer turns to look behind, and I see her mother, walking along the river trail, away from my stand, and the little deer runs to catch up. They both move quietly and slowly, and in a flash, they are gone.

The woods return to their winter stillness, with the occasional cawing of crows, the honking of geese, the rustling of leaves in the breeze and my heartbeat, slowing down again, and I sit back, and drift off to dream again, listening for the crunching of leaves...

Willow Spring Pics and the Promised Natural Dye Pics too!

2010-09-15T21:41:00.006-04:00

Okay, so I checked my trail camera today and it was a good thing I did. I set it down by a little wetland area I call Willow Spring, near a bunch of overgrown apple trees and overgrown pasture land. This place is thick with brush, grasses, shrubbery and dead trees. There is a lot of browse and food around, and lots of cover for all sorts of animals. My camera caught pics of red squirrels, eastern cottontails and chipmunks but no birds this time around. I also got a pic of the resident porcupine, a skunk and a ton of raccoons! There are tons of them, mostly a pair that seem to be brother and sister, and once in a while, there are three of them running around.

They all seem very healthy, and it is nice to see them around, because the raccoon population got hit really hard about 10 years ago when the rabies epidemic moved through the area. We had a few rabid raccoons move through camp at that time, and we had to make sure none of the campers got anywhere near them. Then, after the wave of disease passed, we saw hardly any raccoons around our camp for many years.

So, it is good to see them back! I am also sure that they are hitting our compost pile hard during the summer season, and searching the bushes for crusts of sandwich and apple cores.

The skunk and porcupine didn't stick around long as they passed through the area, so I am thinking they are finding a lot of food and aren't all that hungry to sample the fallen apples.

The deer stayed for a long time, and I had about fifteen pictures in different stages of eating, sniffing, scratching and looking around. I was surprised that there weren't more deer running around in the area than just this one, but I guess they aren't using this trail.

Next week I will post more pics and I am moving my camera to another spot, so we will see if I can get a picture of a coyote, or a fisher or maybe the bobcats rolling through. I will probably pick up a road kill of some kind to see if that will attract some different animals. Meat, especially decomposing meat, will bring in crows, hawks, opossums and other scavengers. We might even see a bear!

Right now, the forest and swamps are chock full of berries, hawthorne apples, wild apples, acorns, hickory nuts, beech nuts and lots of other seeds and foods. It hasn't been that cold yet, so the need to pack on the calories hasn't kicked in just yet, but it will happen.

Getting good pictures starts with scouting the trails, to see which ones are being used by game and finding food sources, too. I have a lot of timberframing to do for the next few months, but I will try to get out for a mid morning walk and see what I can see.

I am also adding some pics of Trista's wool, which she dyed last week. The colors came out beautiful, and she is going to make a sweater with it! More pics of that as she gets it started...

She used elderberries, goldenrod, onion, black walnut and purple asters, I think. They came out pretty nice, don't you think?

Fall Update and Thoughts...

2010-09-13T14:38:00.006-04:00

Just wanted to let you know that Trista and I are putting together some photos about her natural wool dyes, as well as some Juniper pics, on her blog, Nature's Hearth, and I should have some nice pics from my game camera soon to post on this blog in a few days. Willow Spring seems to have two very active raccoons, who look healthy and well fed, as well as the usual deer and rabbits moving through on the trails. I think you will like the pics!

We also have three workshops coming up this fall, in October. The first is the Sacred Hunt, October 1-3, which shares skills, philosophy and awareness of the sacred art of hunting, (pretty obvious!) The second is the Unearthing the Soul Retreat, with Trista, October 8-10, which is about preparing for the coming year's growth, vision and changes as well as celebrating the past year's learning and manifestations.... good stuff and very effective and powerful, too.

Last but not least is the Wolverine Survival Intensive, October 22-24, which covers the skills of survival and earth philosophy that will change how you see and experience the woods and nature forever... Chock full of learning and crafts and skills, it won't let you down!

I know we are just a few weeks away from a big election and all the blather about the economy and stuff the media wants us to obsess about, but if you take a moment and think, most of what is important to us in life doesn't have to do with that stuff. It has to do with the people we love, with the connections we make as friends and family, and our ability to enjoy our lives, work for a greater purpose and feel good about ourselves. I guess what I'm trying to say is, don't be a pawn in the media/political arena, and get outside, feel good, and work on things you can change and grow with, rather than stress about fear, hate and worry. In the wild, you can't change a thunderstorm. You just ride through it. It will pass, eventually, as it always does. The sun comes out, and there is another day. Don't let yourself be caught up in things that waste your time and don't really help build towards your personal vision and family and community.

We all make choices in our lives, as to what we want to focus on. What we choose to listen to, and thus create our own reality. This isn't an opinion, it is a practice, one that must occur every day. We hear what we want to hear, what's important to us, or what we value.

Have a great fall, and hope to see you soon!

Skills for the New Earth-Connected Generation: Our Sustainability and Wilderness Apprenticeship

2010-08-25T18:20:00.009-04:00

So, you can see the direction our country, our world is heading, and the writing is on the wall. On the rocks. On concrete buildings and tall trees.

No matter which way you slice it, the bubble, as we have come to know the modern world, is beginning to burst. Or pop. Sure, it is a lot of small and medium pops that so far we have been able to weather and handle, but it's getting worse. Slowly, creeping, steadily advancing on us, we know

that it's time to pay the piper. Our debt to the animal world, the Earth Mother, to our future generations, is coming due.

You don't want to use the Ostrich Technique and pretend it isn't coming. On the other hand, building a bunker doesn't feel right either.

What you need, really, are Skills.

Experience.

Learning things that will last, that will have value no matter what the future holds. Things that can feed us, feed our families, our souls.

Skills can sustain us, and remove fear.

Skills let us breathe, to relax and feel good about our lives, our direction, our purpose and path.

Skills last forever, and can be passed down to our friends and family and community.

What to do. What to do.......

Hey! I have an idea!

Join the Hawk Circle Wilderness and Sustainability Apprenticeship. It is a powerful blend of old ways, modern skills and knowledge you can use right now to reconnect

with nature, your deeper self, and grow.

Apprentices learn about gardening, composting, harvesting foods and preserving them. They learn to make baskets and buckskin, take part in workshops and youth trainings. They learn the art of traditional timberframing, as well as practical skills of stacking firewood, basic carpentry skills, cooking and much more.

Apprentices make a four to five month commitment, and provide their own food for the duration of the program.

They participate for five days a week, sometimes part time, sometimes full time, trading their sweat equity for real experience and skills that change how they see the world forever.

The farmhouse is heated by a wood stove, and the shared commercial kitchen allows for fabulous meals, communal gatherings and potlucks. The barn is ready for all kinds of projects both building and native skills. The natural surroundings are perfect for this kind of retreat and intensive, undistracted learning.

We only need five people for the fall and winter, so if you would like to be considered, please contact Ricardo or Trista at 607-264-3910 or HawkCircleOffice@gmail.com.

We'd be happy to see if this program would be a good fit for you.

Remember: Skills Trump Fear. They are the antidote to catharsis, to just going along with the herd, and they are the key to freedom.

Skills you can choose from to learn while in the Apprenticeship:

Tanning Deerskins using Braintanning

Fire by Friction, without matches

Natural Fiber Rope and

String

Bark Baskets and Containers

Basic Stone Tools

Knife Sharpening and Care

Useful Knots for the wilderness

Cutting, Splitting and Stacking Firewood

Bread Baking and Herbal Butters

Campfire Cooking Skills

Wilderness Shelter Building

Traditional Timber Framing Cabins and Barns

Bow Making

Deer Hunting Skills

Organic Gardening

Harvesting, Identifying & Preparing Wild Foods

Tree and Plant Identification

Community Living Skills

Winter Snow Shelters and Survival Strategies

Earth Philosophy and Personal Ceremony

Animal Tracking and Nature Awareness

Working with Youth teaching Native skills and crafts

Raising Cabins and Barns

Okay, there are probably a ton of other skills I am forgetting to list here, but these are the first ones that come to mind that past apprentices have wanted to focus on, so here ya go! If you want to learn some other skills not on this list but that are listed on our website, give us a call and we will see if it can work out!

The Fall Semester at Hawk Circle: September 5th-October 30, 2010

2010-06-14T13:41:00.010-04:00

Have you ever shot a real bow and arrow? Gathered your dinner from a mountain meadow or grove of trees? Do you know how to skin and prepare good meat from a hunt? Can you make a warm shelter to spend a cold night in the woods?

These are some of the skills offered in the Fall Semester at Hawk Circle.

It's not just skills, though. It is about wandering, connecting, and exploring yourself as you connect to the natural world.

Time changes at Hawk Circle. You can read for hours in the sun or grass, then be inspired to make indian curries for

dinner with your fellow students. You can make your own buckskin, or an ash splint packbasket that you will have for generations. You can sleep under a star filled sky so clear that it takes your breath away.

Insight, healing, rejuvenation and finding one's path are what this program is all about. It will change you in a good way. You will find strength, knowledge, direction and friendship.

Autumn is my favorite season, and the colors of the leaves, the frost, the fresh berries and foods are all amazing. I love giving someone their first taste of cattails, or wild game cooked over the fire. I like sitting out in the pre dawn on someone's first bow hunt, waiting to see what comes along, while we are invisible.

You can build a shelter with sticks, leaves and bark. You

can draw sketches of plants, or carve a bow and arrow. You can learn to timberframe cabins and homes using sustainable methods our ancestors used for hundreds of years, too. You can spend time in the garden, harvesting the remains of the summer crops and planting new seeds for the spring.

Later, as the season winds down, we sit around the woodstove, working on our projects, playing guitar or drums, and share our stories along with sweet birch or pine needle tea. "Will it snow tonight?" someone will ask. "If it gets cold enough!" I will answer, and we go to sleep wondering what the morning will bring.

Eventually, we find our spots on the mountain where we will go to seek our vision, our inner path and truth and purpose. Here we sit for day, or several, some without food, asking for guidance and direction. We support each other in our

seeking and inner journey, under the guidance of our mentors and staff. "It's hard" I say, "but it's worth it."

There is a light that begins to shine in a person's eyes when

they uncover their truth and discover their own path. It is a shine that comes from within and it let's part of their spirit out into the world, seeing things in new ways, with hope and trust and brightness.

If you need a little inner light, or the taste of autumn olive jam on fresh baked bread, come spend a season here at Hawk Circle. We'd love to have you around our campfire.

Willow Spring Trail Camera Pictures

2010-06-14T11:56:00.033-04:00

I put my trail camera on a small elm tree overlooking a little wet spring to see what might come by. It's about 200 yards from my house, and the game trail is in an area that gets little human traffic. The whole area used to be pasture, along with some old heirloom apple trees that could have been an orchard a hundred years ago.

The red osier dogwood, black willows, sedge grasses, arrow wood viburnum and nannyberry provide excellent cover for all kinds of animals, as well as food, and there is plenty of water, too.

The trails of deer, foxes and other animals crisscross the region, and there seems to be food available during every season.

I didn't bait the area, so these pictures are all from animals moving around, in their natural environment, doing their thing.

The porcupine chews on plywood scraps inside our timber framing barn workshop, when he can get in.

We hear him gnawing in the woodshed or barn, and it is always fun to see how our students react to finding him with a flashlight at night!

One thing that is funny is that we don't really see the raccoons or hear them at our camp, even though they are clearly here and around us all of the time. Very few tracks, no problems, etc.

I hope to keep it that way! I am sure they get a chicken or two during the year, but you never can be sure it isn't the bobcat or a fox, either.

The bobcat is probably a large female who had two kittens last year. I saw the pair of them while bowhunting last year, chasing a rabbit. I first saw the rabbit, a small cottontail, stalking his way through the honeysuckle and hawthorne, and I couldn't figure out why he was stalking until he was out of sight. Then a few minutes later, I saw the young bobcat sniffing and following his trail. He never missed a step, and he would stop and sniff the air above his head to catch any other scents. He was followed shortly after by his twin, who seemed to be mostly checking up on the situation. Neither of them saw, heard or smelled me, perched in my tree stand about ten feet up. It was one of my favorite moments hunting last year.

Enjoy the pics. I have moved my camera to another area, and will keep moving it around and seeing what I get. I am hoping to get some pics of the coyotes, which have remained elusive so far, and also the fisher, the beavers, maybe a mink or two, and even the rare but present bear in the area.... I will post them as I check the camera every month or so.

Earth Changes & Wilderness Skills: A free Conference Call with Ricardo Sierra

2010-05-19T19:05:00.003-04:00

Why a Relationship with Nature is Important for our selves and our children.
The changes that have been happening over the last two decades are mostly likely appetizers for the main courses to come. Each wave of disturbance, disappearance or storm is followed by new growth and awareness, no matter if the wave is ecological, social, technological or economic. I will be sharing ideas, concepts and strategies for understanding what has been happening and continues to unfold, and provide guidelines that can help you, your family or business adapt and grow.

Email us at HawkCircleOffice@gmail.com and let us know you are interested. We'll send you the call-in info and log-in code.

Many blessings,

Ricardo

The Battle on the Balance Beam: Wolverine vs Ninja Cat, vs Red Squirrel

2010-05-03T20:13:00.004-04:00

Last weekend, we went on a great hike and found a perfect log for balance beam battles.... Personally, I am waiting until it is a little warmer, but the staff and apprentices were not deterred by the icy waters! Here is the video of their adventures...

P.S. Did you see the hidden animal in the dry leaves? It is a scout awareness test! Let me know what it is if you find it!

Hawk Circle 2.0 continues: The Community Conference Call

2010-03-13T23:05:00.005-05:00

Greetings, Everyone, from Hawk Circle and Cherry Valley, where we are enjoying a blustery blast of wet snow in a typical March storm! (Okay, the picture is from a few weeks ago, in the Snowmageddon storm, but you get the idea!)

Trista and I have been thinking of having a free conference call to all interested people to:

1. Update everyone about some of the current Hawk Circle News and Happenings.

2. Speak about some of the current issues of our collective communities and discuss strategies that can begin to build wholeness for ourselves, our families and our communities.

3. Answer Your Questions about Hawk Circle, our camps and any other skills, animal, tracking, awareness or mentoring.

And you can send Trista and myself your questions by email ahead of time, too, so we can all benefit from the questions. I think it would be a good way to stay connected and gain your input on things happening in your communities, your needs, as well as insight gleaned from our collective skills, experience and knowledge.

If you are interested in being part of this call, please send me a note on Facebook or an email Ricardo.J.Sierra@gmail.com.

Thanks for your help and your friendship!

Big Picture: Thinking Like A Hawk

2010-03-09T00:08:00.016-05:00

One of my favorite things about hawks is their amazing eyesight. They soar hundreds of feet in the air, riding thermal currents and get the big picture of the land, the animals, the clouds and their tiny prey far below. Their sudden plummeting dives are power and grace in motion.

Metaphorically, I like to think like a hawk, too. I like looking at issues, ideas and situations from high above, seeing connections, obstacles, ope

nings and multiple perspectives. I enjoy thinking from this place not just in the here and now, but also generationally, seeing how the past has influenced our present moment and how our actions or reactions will affect our future. Seven generations is a long time, but many native cultures thought all major decisions in tribal life to include the impact that their actions would have seven generations later. That is a lot of foresight!

It begs the question: Would our current economic, environmental, agricultural, medical, human rights and social issues be different if our community and political leaders thought with this long range perspective?

Seeing like a hawk, and thinking like a native, I know that we are planting seeds for the future. The work we do with youth, with children, with families and adults provide skills and experiences that will sprout, root and grow throughout the lifetime of each individual, and affect their decisions, actions and thoughts. Contact with the natural world, with each other free from electronic clutter, around the campfire, we open up to ourselves in a profound way. Listening, feeling, thinking, imagining- all of these things are part of the experiences at our camps and programs.

When I really get the big picture, when I fly or travel through major cities and across the country, I am humbled by how incredibly immense our world is, and how many people we have in this country alone. Does it matter what we do, then, with our small program and speck of green?

I think it does. Maybe more than ever.

When I started Hawk Circle, in 1989, we were one of the first exclusive camps offering wilderness skills and nature awareness skills to children and youth. There was no internet

then, so it is hard to say we were first, but the number of camps and programs was very small. Now, there are probably several hundred programs out there, in this country, in Europe and Canada, doing work year around, in schools homeschooling groups, at nature centers and mini workshops. This is all in just twenty one years! I know that our tiny movement will continue to grow as the years pass, and we will see the seeds we have planted bear much fruit for our grandchildren... for all children everywhere!

Do you see the big picture in what you do? Do you feel energized by the challenge of creating a better world for our children, or is it sometimes too much to handle? What makes you feel good about being part of the ongoing change?

Feel free to leave a message, and keep soaring on those thermals, people!

Future Seeds for our Kids: Preparing for Climate Change

2010-02-04T17:17:00.001-05:00

Cary Fowler: One seed at a time, protecting the future of food | Video on TED.com

If you have any doubt that climate change is happening, know that there are many people who are dedicating their entire lives to help ensure our future for our children and grandchildren. While we don't store seeds, at Hawk Circle, we are preserving skills that our children will need to adapt and thrive in the changes that are to come, and they won't need money, either.

The impact this has on me and our work here is considerable. I am spurred on by their work, and I know our community and staff are fully dedicated to not only teach skills and nature awareness, but also to connect children to nature in a way that can preserve humanity in a powerful way.

Are you Experienced?

2010-01-25T13:42:00.004-05:00

No, I am not doing a Jimmy Hendrix post here, people. This is much more important! The topic, in short, is about experience. Skills Experience. Community Experience. Nature Awareness Experience. Gathering Experience, and well, you get the idea.

When I started Hawk Circle, I remember thinking about how important it was to me to include not only the time dedicated to teaching a new skill, such as tipi fire building, or throwing sticks, but practice time. Dedicated, experience building practice. Time for trouble-shooting, problem solving, sharing with each other about what works and what doesn't, as well as time for students to talk to myself or the instructors for help or inspiration.

When I first learned a lot of these skills, I was at the Tracker School, or some other workshop, and time was often of the essence. Meaning there wasn't much time at all. We often spent our time taking notes, talking about skills or techniques, and learning through lecture and white board drawings rather than in the field, feet on the g

round experience. It was more along the lines of 70% Lecture-30% Field Work.

This might not seem that significant, and I am not saying I had a problem with it during my study. I had a lot of previous field experience, using hand tools like hatchets, axes, saws, chisels and more. I already knew how to pitch a tent in the dark, or travel off trail, or work on projects from simple sketches and outlines and make them work.

However, I was an adult at the time of my training and I had grown up in a number of rural areas. I split firewood all summer (by hand) for the winter, as we heated by wood stove, and that was how I learned my trees. It was a great way to learn but it took a long time, too.

Today's average student or camper don't have that breadth of rural living experience, so when they come into a camp or program, often they don't know their knots, trees, or knife carving skills. Their hands aren't used to holding hand tools, or twisting plant fibers into rope or string. This isn't a bad thing, really, it is just something that we have to keep in mind, today more than ever.

I set up Hawk Circle so each program focused on learning that is approximately 80% skills, or direct hands-on learning, and 20% lecture/story/classroom time. This means we might not be able to cover as many skills, but that the skills we do teach, students will leave with a real, working knowledge. Which means they can actually do those skills! (Isn't that the whole point?)

Beyond this post, my question to you is this: What does it take to get experience? Where do you practice? When do you find time to practice, to hone and refine and 'make your own' for fire-making, tracking, carving, or crafting? There are so many things that compete for our attention, for all of those precious specks of sand that pour from the hourglass of our lives!

If you have something that works for you, post and let us know about it. If you don't, and you need help, add that too. Thanks. We are all in this together.....

Looking Back on 2009

2009-12-31T11:56:00.004-05:00

It's my last blog post of 2009, and I wanted to share a few highlights from this past year's adventures!

One: The Camp Bonfires.
This year we had some really great bonfires that lit up the night and burned high, sending sparks over twenty feet high into the sky! It was magical and powerful and exciting, and one of my favorite memories of the year.

Two: Gathering Hickory Nuts, Acorns & Autumn Olives.
It was a bumper crop of hickory nuts, which was fantastic because it has been a few years. We had fantastic weather, warm, sunny, with winds blowing the nuts down on our heads and all around us. Javi liked picking up the nuts and husks, which Trista and the Fall Apprentices used for dying yarn. The autumn olives made the most amazing tart jam that is the best wild jam I have ever tasted.

Three: The Nature Fashion Show from Painted Arrow Camp.
The staff and campers created clothing, jewelry, accessories and props out of natural materials (bark, leaves, feathers, plant fibers, wild flowers, cattails and more!). It was awesome!

Four: The Timber Framed Beds.
This fall, the Apprentices here at Hawk Circle made beautiful hand made beds for their rooms, which they crafted using hard wood pegs carved from white ash. The head and foot boards were made with larch and pine, and everyone sanded and carved them carefully to last for decades of use in the farmhouse! Thanks, Joel, Miles, Virginia and Nate!

Meeting all of you is a powerful memory.

Finishing a couple of sets of our timberframed bunk beds for the cabins is another.

What about cooking meat over the fire in the Winter Intensive last January?

All of the school groups and school visits were awesome.

The CROP Afterschool Program partnership with Hawk Circle was a highlight.

Going to Wintergreen Gorge was a highlight.

Teaching many of you to make pegs, chop wood or throw tomahawks was a highlight!

Tracking Bobcats was a highlight, too, and seeing the baby bobcats hunting eastern cottontail rabbits in the brush while bow hunting was totally awesome!

Timberframing in our barn was a highlight, listening to good music and teaching others about carving pine, larch, hemlock and white oak beams.

Seeing my son Javier growing up, learning to read and seeing him change and mature is an ongoing favorite of mine. It hasn't always been easy with all of his special needs, but this year, he hasn't had any big issues or anything. For that, I am always grateful.

As always, I am loving the amazing wildlife, nature, plants and trees, sunrises and sunsets, thunderstorms, snowstorms, flowers, fruits, smells, fresh air, beautiful animals and birds.... man, I could go on and on and on!

Thank you all for your support, encouragement,

friendship and hard work. It is a blessing having all of you in our lives.

Ricardo Sierra & Trista Haggerty
Hawk Circle Wilderness Education

The Hawk Circle Annual Appeal. Just a few days left in 2009!

2009-12-28T00:32:00.005-05:00

Well, 2009 is just about in the books, and it has been a good year for us at Hawk Circle. Hard in some ways, but we are still here and we are poised to make 2010 great too, as a year and as a decade, even. There is a lot of work to do, but we are on our way!

I wanted to share a letter that one of our camper parents wrote in support of our work, as part of our annual appeal, etc. Thanks Colleen! We really appreciate your efforts on our behalf, and for the youth and adults too.

Here is the letter:

December 7, 2009 Dear Hawk Circle Family,

There is a place where people, young and old alike, gather around a camp fire. Sometimes they sing, sometimes they talk, often they are silent, feeling the awesome companionship of nature and one another. This is a place where children and teenagers learn to create from the gifts of the wild and adults learn new ways to survive using natural resources that have always been there. Time slows down and thoughts deepen. Senses quicken and lives are set on new paths.

Hawk Circle has been providing quality programming in wilderness education for two decades. They have been working hard to ensure that these experiences are available for children and adults alike. Their small community of mentors is dedicated and committed to creating an environment where students can come and study; to reaffirm the interconnectedness of the human world and the wild world of nature.

My name is Colleen Langdon. My family and I met Ricardo Sierra several years ago when we attended a one day workshop outside of Baltimore. It was a memorable experience for my family. The children made wooden spoons, learned to build a fire, learned about knife safety and listened to Ricardo tell stories about nature. The activities were meaningful, engaging and deeply satisfying to my children. I picked up a camp flyer from Ricardo and knew we’d find our way to Hawk Circle soon. As so often happens, events in our life prevented us from going for several years, however, I knew one day we would find a way there. The summer of 2009 was that time. My two sons were scheduled to attend camp and I came at the last minute when my youngest son asked me if I could come and stay also. Trista graciously allowed me to come and the next thing I knew I was pitching my tent in the Caretaker field. As my sons went off with the counselors, I wandered around the camp. Wandering lasted about five minutes. Why is it so hard to do nothing? I almost felt a sense of panic at not having a purpose. My children’s needs were being met by the camp and I was so used to cultivating busyness. The previous six years had brought plenty of challenges to my family and I had not taken the time to rest and reflect. I was spinning and I felt like I could not find solid ground to stand on.

I was soon comforted and gently rooted by the rhythm of the day that the staff and community create. I had a unique position to see the staff and youth as I was able to weave in and out of various activities from sitting in on a fire circle, to helping out in the kitchen or garden. I was able to observe from many angles the magic that Hawk Circle offers. During my visit I was impressed by the high level of teaching done by the staff. The counselors were passionate men- tors who took the time to teach the students with patience and dedication. They engaged each student yet allowed them space to explore their own abilities. I was amazed at the creativity in which the counselors wove stories throughout their teachings encouraging the students to develop critical thinking and to see the relationships between themselves and all living things.

Hawk Circle intentionally keeps their camps small to insure safety, high quality mentoring, and authentic bonding among campers and staff.

By the end of the first week I noticed that students were excited and more confident. From building a fire and a campsite to tracking and hunting, the students knew the work they were doing was authentic and it showed in how they carried themselves. Engaging in these activities allowed the natural world to come alive in a real way for these students.

Children who immerse themselves in nature have a deeper sense of awe and wonder for the world.

After my experience this summer, I am recommitted to this belief. But not only for children. For all of us. Stepping out of the busy world I had created and into nature awakened in me the power of healing and creativity. One special night, Trista offered a women’s circle that was simple, powerful and transformative. There was a true sense of connectedness to these women I had just met only days ago. There was no false sense of ‘spiritual rightness’, no forced rules of what it is to be sacred. There was only the simple but powerful quality of being embraced.

Without a doubt, Trista Haggerty and Ricardo Sierra have created a special community where they offer a respite from the hectic modern world and a place to rejuvenate and deeply nurture our essential selves. They are incredibly generous, have a well-thought out vision of the future they are creating, and the leadership to move forward.

Please support this awesome work.

After twenty years, Ricardo Sierra continues to pass on his stories of survival, adventure and magic in the wilderness to the ‘eager to learn’ , next generation.A donation to Hawk Circle is an investment in a rich program that offers young and old alike a place to make deep connections to the earth, to one another and to ourselves. Without this connection our future would be truly uncertain.

Your donation will help to insure the protection of the earth and its beauty by supporting our youth in establishing passionate and reverent relationships with the natural world.

If you have also experienced the power of Hawk Circle--its people and its land--please take this opportunity to honor that experience and safeguard it for others. Make an investment, any amount will help, towards the future of Hawk Circle. Please consider a donation to Hawk Circle Wilderness programs this year. Your donation will help fund the education programs that profoundly affect our children, the community and our future. With much love,

Colleen Langdon
Hawk Circle Parent

Hawk Circle Wilderness Education (The Earth Mentoring Institute) is a
501C3, not-for-profit organization. Your donation is fully tax deductible as allowed by law.

Hawk Circle is the kind of place that needs to exist. It is essential for people’s psychic and emotional well-being. If there aren’t institutions that offer this kind of education, we are lost.
---Earth Skills Student

Thanks for reading, and many blessings for you and your families/communities in the new year!

Winter Survival Decoded: The Hawk Circle Winter Intensive

2009-12-26T19:48:00.003-05:00

There is a big difference between knowing about how to do something, and actually doing it. Theory vs Experience counts in the wilderness, and no where is this more true than in the winter season. Everything is more intense and when it is 14ºF outside, and you are trying to make a fire, you can feel that the need for that fire is real. Your hunger is more like a growling wolf in your belly, and you know you need food. Energy rich food, too. Water is key, both tea, hot chocolate and clean spring water. Your gear, and your mind and your body is all that comes between you and sure, frozen death.

But one thing that I like to keep in mind is this: As hard as it seems like winter is, all of our ancestors knew how to get through just fine. And aboriginal peoples have been living in extreme environments for thousands of years. Not hundreds. Thousands. Seriously! Isn't that a little comforting?

So, about seven years ago, I put together a course that I tried out on my apprentices and staff, and later evolved into The Hawk Circle Winter Intensive. In it, we put together as many skills of winter earth skills as we could pack, and made it in January, so there would be snow and cold and it would be real! We even put together a little trek to put the skill in action, too.

So, the dates are January 3-16, 2010. What better way to start the new year than by roasting chestnuts by the fire, making winter teas, learning to track winter predators and stay comfortable no matter what the temperature! Join us if you can, because after that, it's time to get ready for maple syrup season, and start timberframing again, too....

One of the things I like about this course is that it is gentle on new winter neophytes. We aren't going to just throw you into the cold without being prepared, and we take it step by step. So you can learn without feeling like you are being pushed too fast, too far, too soon. Which is important. On the other hand, if you want to go further, faster, more intense, we can do that for you too.

Another thing I like about being part of a class like this is the fellowship, the community of students and staff that is formed when we all come together to learn and grow. After all of my years of study of skills and practicing, I know how it feels to work on my skills alone, by myself, and then to experience it in a group, at a class or a circle of good friends. It is one hundred percent different, more fun, amazing, with a group of friends and the learning is just accelerated too. Sometimes it is hard to tell what is more awesome, the class or just cooking great meals and hanging out by the woodstove, enjoying the evening carving crafts and drying meat or making cookies!

Feel free to write or call us for more info. 607-264-3396. And if you aren't up for the winter adventure, have fun in your own way, and enjoy it as best you can. Set up a bird feeder for the winter birds, or catch up on your reading, or get your seeds ready for next year's garden. I know I will be trying to do all of those things too. Have a great winter!

Raising the Frame in the Snow

2009-12-23T11:17:00.001-05:00

Earlier this month, we raised the cabin I was building for the last two months. Nate Johnson, Miles McAllister, Joel Haines and I spent a good number of days making pegs, carving rafters, moving heavy beams and checking everything to make sure it was all set, and then we delivered them. Then, the raising happened. We were just in time, too. The warm weather held out as long as it could, but as we were putting it together, it started to snow. You can see it in the pics.

Anyway, it was a great raising, and took two days, but it looks great. Let me know what you think! It was great to see how it all came together, fitting tenon and mortise with hand carved pegs, etc. I am just glad it was done before it really started snowing!

Now I am back to getting the barn ready for more winter framing, sealing up cracks in the siding, installing a woodstove to let my workshop area be semi-warm, and making lots more pegs for the coming frames!

Timberframing: Strong, Sustainable, Longlasting and fun to build!

2009-09-29T02:28:00.002-04:00

As I am sure you probably already know, I have been doing a lot of timberframing lately. We started building cabin frames about eleven years ago, and made a few as part of our workshops in framing. Simon Mayer, Chris Marx and a few other staff members carved wooden pegs by the boxload one winter, selling them to other timber framers for food money. There were mounds of shavings all over the farmhouse floor. (Once you have made a few hundred pegs yourself, you really don't get the same thrill at making pegs, frame after frame! Buying them isn't always a bad idea!)

Anyway, learning to cut frames has been really important here at Hawk Circle. Not only have we used it for our garden shed, our staff cabins and three student/camper cabins, we have also built our bridge using framing techniques, and lately, cutting frames for people who have wanted one for themselves or their families. This has helped support our Earth Skills Apprenticeship, and our camp scholarship fund, too, by providing income to offset housing/utilities and all kinds of different expenses that come up at a wilderness education program. Plus, it gives us more wood for carving, making bunkbeds, cabins and other framing projects that really help teach the art of framing to our students.

We put our first set of bunkbeds up this summer, with a lot of help in the making of them from many caretakers and Abigail Liss, who carved almost a full set by herself in the three weeks she was here last summer. There were lots of students making pegs and helping out in a lot of different ways.

Lately, the Apprentices are making their own timber framed beds, for the farmhouse, so we can get the mattresses off the floor in some rooms, and replace some shaky old frames on others... Joel, Virginia and Miles are doing great work and the beds are coming out great!

Timberframe structures are amazingly sturdy. They are cut from local wood, so they are super sustainable, and they are made using very little power, as we cut and shape them with mostly hand tools. They bring a community together in the raising, and the buildings are more than just an amalgam of wood and shingles. They are a home, be it for animals, or artists, or a family.

The barn here at Hawk Circle is full of beams, shavings, sawdust and finished braces and posts. It feels good to be in there, with our great view out the barn doors looking down the valley, listening to some good music, and cutting massive wood.

Framing is hard on the body, though. I go home tired, sore and ready for bed. Elbows, shoulders and back muscles get used a lot in sawing, chiseling or lifting. It is definitely not something that I can do every day, day in and day out. It helps to take a day here and there to teach skills, mow the lawn or gather hickory nuts!

Last weekend we raised a frame in the southern Adirondacks, well, actually, it was the base of the frame as the structure is being built on the side of a hill. We were just making the first level, so we can put up the full frame/roof on top of the deck. It was great to see it come together without a hitch, and it felt immensely satisfying to see the heavy oak beams pegged together, solid and strong.

We are cutting the rest of the frame now. Much of it is white pine, so after the white oak, it is almost like cutting the frame out of a stick of butter. Seriously! The white oak builds up some serious strength and muscle, which makes it great to work with pine.

I love cutting frames. It is awesome working with wood and it is great sharing it with others, both in teaching and in building. I like it because, honestly, after nearly twenty five years of teaching wilderness skills, it is great to be doing something different. It is great to take one beam at a time, and see my work done at the end of the day, there, stacked neatly and ready for some future assembly. It is great to just experience a change, in some ways. It also keeps me strong, as I need to be able to lift my son, Javier about four or five times each day. And it is cheaper than going to the gym!

Don't get me wrong. I still love teaching wilderness skills, and I do it almost every day. But it is really nice to cut wood and be part of this other skill, and learn new things, too.

If you get a chance, come to the raising of the full cabin in a few weeks. I would love to have your help, plus it is an amazing experience to see it all come together... If you want to be part of it, let me know. And if you are in the area and you want to come check out our frames and our workshop, please do.

Okay, back to work....

And if you are interested in having us make a frame for you or your family, either as an addition, or as a barn or retreat cabin or whatever, give us a call. I would be happy to talk to you about your project!

Enjoy the fall!

Coming Up: The Sacred Hunt and Wolverine Survival...

2009-09-13T21:28:00.010-04:00

Two weekends. Two workshops. Two experiences that will change the way you see the natural world.

This fall, we are offering The Sacred Hunt: October 16-18, 2009. It is more than a simple hunting skills class. It's about learning to hunt in an honorable way, in a way that is connected to the heart, to the soul, not only of you but to the deer, and nature itself.

Hunting is a culmination of need, awareness, tracking and being human. It is part of us, our thousands of years of living close to the land. It isn't something that I take lightly, and it is far more than simply attempting to kill an animal.

Hunting provides food for our families, hides for our clothing, all kinds of tools and a way of challenging our skills to the very limit. It provides me with a bridge to the spirit and the sure knowledge that we all live and we all offer our lives as a gift to the earth, to the spirit that moves in all things, to the people, and to our families. We offer ourselves to the people we love.

Wolverine Survival
October 30-November 1, 2009.

The wolverine brings up all kinds of different feelings in people. In the old days, trappers hated wolverines, calling them gluttons, raiders that followed their traplines, taking their marten and foxes and fouling the area with a rank musky stench.

To the native people, wolverines offer a model of warriorship, of ferocity, of unbridled intensity that matched the massive grizzly, or a full pack of wolves. They can travel the most remote wilderness areas with ease, preferring to climb over a glacier or mountain pass than go around it. Their fur stays frost free even down to -50ºF and they sleep pretty much anywhere they please. Wolverines were the model for fighting spirit, for tenacity and power.

Modern science has found wolverines to be caring parents, and not always living up the ferocious loners portrayed in comic mythos.

In this course, we study the skills of survival that are necessary to living close to the earth, providing ways of making shelters, fire, tools, hunting weapons and utensils. We will learn to walk with awareness, hear more, see more and understand more about the natural world, where you will view the natural landscape as your ally and friend.

We have great discounts, great food, great cabins and you will never see the natural world the same way again.

Actually, I already said that!

Anyway, hope to see you there!

Inspiration: The Ongoing Battle Continues

2009-09-12T20:29:00.005-04:00

It's easy to get inspired. I mean, anyone can catch the inspiration bug, by reading something, or watching something or hearing someone share a story.

It's staying inspired that is tough.

Inspiration is a tricky thing, because it is elusive. It can evaporate in the face of reality. In the presence of the health department, or a board of directors, or a financial statement, it might hit the trail, or leave you with a rock in your stomach, your tongue in knots. It can sometimes make you wish you had never been inspired!

I am not saying this because I am down on inspiration. Far from it! I am saying this because it is important and it is a reality. For every inspired person that attempts to learn to make a fire, or a bow or to track animals, there must be close to ten who never get off of the couch, or go outside.

On the other hand, inspiration gets us going, and keeps us going when the chips are down. It touches us deep in our souls, in our heart's desire.

I have written about how I started Hawk Circle, our origin story and more, in previous blog entries, but when I saw this video, I really liked it. It arrived typically, in a moment where I really needed a boost, and it touched me. It is so simple, so short, but it was effective in reaching that part of me that is connected to my vision and mission. I won't spoil or paraphrase it to let you enjoy it's full impact, and you might not even be touched by it. It doesn't matter. We all have our own ways of connecting.

But it made me remember that it takes constant effort, year after year after year, day after day, to keep going. Because it is tiring to walk a vision, to push and work and think and plan.

Doing Hawk Circle is full time, every second of every day, it seems, sometimes. For Trista, for myself, for our staff and friends and supporters. We are constantly seeking and finding new ways of doing this work to try to make it better, to reach people, to grow in impact, if not in numbers, and to grow it the right way, whatever that is. We also find ourselves searching for our own inner strength, to keep going.

It helps to remember that we are doing this for love, for the children in the photo, to give them the skills they need to survive whatever might come down the road for them.

We are doing these things for love of nature, to help the people of the world be more connected it it, to share it in such a way that they feel close to it and understand it, and can help all life here on this earth.

We do it for our families, our communities and for ourselves....

I wish you the best in your daily search for inspiration! One step at a time....

The Difference between "When" and "If"

2009-09-08T01:44:00.005-04:00

This world is beginning to accelerate in ways that go beyond our control. They may already have years ago, but our ability to understand this is still in infancy. However, there is little doubt among scientists and educated peoples across the globe that we are seeing the last shreds of stability on a planetary scale, and that the future is highly uncertain.

The whole issue of 'if climate change occurs' is moot. It's now a question of 'when' and 'how much'.

At Hawk Circle, we are beginning to make a change in our approach to teaching wilderness leadership, survival skills and awareness. For the last twenty years, we have tried to avoid any philosophical tones that might be construed as alarmist, fear based or manipulative, for obvious reasons. Most students are simply unable to do anything about it, for one thing. The other is that it was uncertain that the 'worst' was yet to come, so to speak.

Starting in 2010, our approach is going to be one of trust, love, compassion, and highly practical in nature, one that features skills that will be crucial and necessary in the coming years. We also will begin to talk openly about the changes and what these might look like and how to observe and respond to them in a way that can provide the optimal outcomes for our students and their families.

We aren't talking about packing up three years of food in the basement, or getting firearms and ammunition. We aren't talking about heading out to live in a bunker in Idaho, or herding fifty goats in Wisconsin. No, no and no! (If you are into that sort of thing, go for it, but we aren't advising that!)

We are going to begin talking about these changes and these skills in a 'when' conversation, rather than a hypothetical 'if'.

I don't like doing this, but I can't see any other way that has integerity. I also think that young people do 'get it' as to what is going on with climate change and the very real threat to our world as we know it, and it will probably be refreshing to be able to talk about it directly, rather than skirt around it or pretend it isn't happening.

I don't claim to know the future but I can sure take a look at the present and make some simple predictions and know that things are about to get a lot crazier in the coming ten to twenty to thirty years!

I welcome your feedback and would love to hear what you think about this approach and if you agree or disagree.

Living without Fear: Swine Flu and the Natural Person's Strategy

2009-04-29T23:57:00.010-04:00

Well, if the stock market and economic reports haven't got you down, the worry about the up and coming 'pandemic' of swine flu should send you over the edge, right?

Wrong.

Because you are smart and you know you need to put everything in perspective before you get crazy.

The fact is, normal flu virus/illness kills over 36,000 people every year in the United States. That's a lot of people, most of them with pre-existing medical issues such as impaired immune systems, diabetes, premature birth or elderly decline. The idea that we should panic over one or two or even three deaths doesn't add up. At least, not yet. H1N1 is probably going to be here to stay for a little while, but we don't have to panic.

Death is part of life, and my heart goes out to everyone who has died, and to their families who live on beyond them. It doesn't matter if someone dies of swine flu or cancer or a car accident, I can empathize with the loss and grief that all of us feel when there is a loss to our circle of family, friends and community.

Perspective doesn't mean we don't care, but we can't cower in our basements and hide either. We have to find a way to live, and be smart and reduce our risk. Like in a wilderness situation, we always want to be safe, and not do crazy things that are unnecessary, so it is great to stay informed as things progress.

So, what can you do to stay healthy? We know that viruses and bacterias are around us daily, constantly, and our bodies keep us alive and functioning naturally. We just need to keep this system working in optimal condition! Here are a few ideas:

One: Take off your shoes and socks and walk barefoot on the lawn. Studies have shown that getting your feet in contact with the earth directly has a powerful effect of boosting your immune system by many percentage points, as the ground stimulates your nerves in your feet, which are connected to all the other nerves in your system. Get out there when there is dew on the ground, and move slowly so you don't hurt yourself if your feet are tender.

Two: Gather some dandelion greens and make a salad. Dandelions, chickory and other 'bitter greens' are often the first plants up in the spring, and they are loaded with all kinds of vitamins and nutrients that act as a tonic to our bodies immune, digestive and circulatory systems. It is kind of like a 'flush' to the system, as well as a stimulant through it's bitterness to our livers, gall bladders, pancreas and other internal organs. It is a good idea to make sure you get a few leaves in your mouth and to chew them slowly, to achieve the full benefit, as an important part of the stimulation of your internal organs comes from messages that your body recieves as you chew and taste your food. If you smother them in sugary or intensely spiced dressings, you will be missing out! (Note: Only gather and eat plants that are in areas that aren't sprayed for poisons, or other chemical or pollutants, and avoid gathering on roadsides where plants can concentrate the exhaust and other chemicals. Be sure you can positively identify every single leaf of the plants you are gathering and make sure there are no other species of plant hiding in the foliage!)

Three: Stay Positive. Your attitude is huge in this. It is a known fact that people who are happy, lighthearted and positive have much stronger, healthier immune systems than those who are depressed, negative and fearful. Put a note on your refrigerator or make a drawing that you can put on your steering wheel that reminds you to be positive each time you see it. Maybe put something on your computer or a leather thong around your wrist... Smile as much as you can. Take negative thoughts and turn them around until they are positive. Give other people compliments and give your self a few when you look in the mirror once in a while, too.

Four: Wear Clothes that Help You Feel Good. This is self explanatory, but don't be afraid to show a little color, and be bold! Get your mind and your families' or friends' minds off of fear and worry and let them focus on you and your crazy hat or whatever!

Five: Pomegranates, Cranberries and Blueberries. All of these foods are amazing super foods, that can help you stay healthy and support your bodies attempt to be as strong as it can be. Make pomegranate juice popsicles for your kids, or blueberry smoothies, or cranberry teas... You can even nibble on dried cranberries or blueberries, too. They are delicious and amazing and even a handful will make a difference in your life and the lives of your family and friends.... Share them with your co-workers, too! We all need to stay healthy!

Six: Take a Walk Outside. There is nothing that helps our bodies stay healthy than good, vigorous movement, or a relaxing stroll in nature. It helps the mind stay positive, it feels great, and awakens our senses of smelling that fresh spring air, all of those growing plants and listening to the blasts of birdsong. You don't have to go far to get the benefits, either, and it helps to put everything in perspective, too. Enjoy the sky, the stars, the moon, the sun, the trees, the perfect beauty and symmetry in a leaf, a stone, a feather, in life itself...

Seven: Meditate on Perfect Health and Strength. Find a spot where you won't be disturbed, and take fifteen minutes to run through a guided meditation. Imagine yourself relaxed, in your favorite natural place, with perfect health, getting stronger with every breath you take. Take the time to thank your body for doing so much work for us, for carrying us throughout our day, doing so many tasks, and taking whatever we dish out and trying it's best to fulfull our needs. Sometimes your body will talk to you, and tell you to eat a specific type of food, or to get more sleep. Sometimes your body will let you know things that will help it become better and healthier. Listen carefully to those indications and remember to be thankful and appreciative for all it does. Our bodies are beautiful and amazing and we need to give ourselves some real, outright love, because sometimes, we are the only ones who will! (That is modified from a quote the John Stokes, director of the Tracking Project, likes to share about how one of his native elders loved to tell everyone who would listen. I love it!)

If you have any other suggestions of how we can stay healthy and positive for ourselves and our families, please add them to the post, with a comment or two, especially if you find that these are helpful!

Late Additions: Have a joke of the day and send it to your friends/family. Tell a funny story to someone. Have a game night each week and connect with your family. Make a point to say something positive to each person you see tomorrow. Make a healthy meal and take it on a picnic to someplace you have never gone before....

More to come, people! Stay healthy and positive!

Sean Rowe: The Troubadour Scout of Hawk Circle... with new music, too!

2009-04-24T00:29:00.005-04:00

Check out this article in the current issue of Metroland in the Capitol District, featuring our own Sean Rowe, about his experiences with music and wilderness, with much training from here at Hawk Circle.... Way to go, Sean! Can't wait to hear the album and sample some of those mushrooms, too.

(You can get a copy of the CD Magic here.)

Sean did an extended survival stay here in the fall of 2007, and worked hard at his fire skills, foraging skills, plant identification, shelter skills and so many more skills of awareness, tracking and survival... He also blew us away with his music and depth, and just overall presence and strength.

Check out the post and I will try to get the audio file that Luke Gaillard did with Sean after his trek, so you can listen and hear it all for yourself! More to come, people!

Signs of Spring, in Upstate NY

2009-04-23T23:49:00.003-04:00

I knew spring was coming when I saw a flock of robins descending from the sumacs across the lawn, in a red-breasted frenzy, searching for the first worms...

I knew spring was coming when we were tracking by the stream, and the heavy back feet of a doe told the story of the fawn she was carrying, as she headed for the rich meal of alfalfa shoots and sharp pointed blades of grass.

I knew spring was on it's way when I heard the ladder backed woodpeckers chasing each other around and around our sugar maples, fighting for the prime nesting place and the best territory to win a mate... They made a huge cackling and melodious racket, hammering on dead trees and then flying in their undulating patterns, like three teenage boys jockeying for position at the dance...

I knew spring was coming when the curled, purple-red-green tops of skunk cabbage poked up in the dead grass by the river, with their shiny smooth skin and pungent smell.

I knew it was spring when the snow comes in thick from down south of the valley, covering the trees with wet clumps of gray-white snow that will last for an hour or so before slowly sinking into the earth and the tannic brown vernal pools where thousands of tiny frogs peep and croak in rhythm, in an orgy of mating and egg laying and exploring their watery world.

I knew it was spring when I walked outside and didn't need a coat or even an extra sweatshirt.

I knew it was spring when the snow melted and I could see all of the crap that accumulates after a long winter of covering snow, all over the yard and the trails and lawns. Sticks, small bits of peeling paint, wood chips, ashes from the woodstove, bits of bark and scraps from the wood pile, or the occasional lost mitten or glove.

I knew it was spring when I saw my first woodchuck of the season, licking salt in the side of the highway. A hundred yards further, my first dead woodchuck of the season....

I knew it was spring when the camps begin to fill up, with friends and students and the promise of summer begins to awaken like a seed, ready to take root.

You take a long time to get here, Spring, but we are sure glad you are getting closer!

Getting behind the Social Media curtain: Rick's Journal, for real!

2009-04-06T22:22:00.001-04:00

Navigating social media is tricky. There aren't a lot of rules, but you can read lots of blogs or e-Newsletters with people who barely have been on FaceBook or Twitter for three weeks, giving out their professional opinions. And we have all heard of the college student who goes looking for a job but gets turned down when the boss Googles him or her and sees pics of drunken debauchery in the photo albums. Blah, blah, blah.

But what good is all of this Social Media crap if you can't be real? If you only get the slick, brochure version, the media massaged and scripted Rick? I mean, how do you get behind the facade?

I wouldn't call Hawk Circle all that bad of a facade, really, and it is pretty much from the heart and all that. But let's face it, it is still tailored to a larger audience, not wanting to offend anyone and perhaps turned down a notch or two, just to be, well, maybe a little more relaxed. (Not that there's anything wrong with that!)

But when people who run organizations, or businesses, or causes are on Social Media, how do you know when you are getting the real person, and not the "safe Rick"? When is it just a line from Madagascar, you know? "Cute and Cuddly, Boys, Cute and Cuddly!" (The penguins. For those of you who are living in a debris shelter, forget it.)

So, here is where it gets real. I don't need to misspell a bunch of words to let you know that I am real, either, and I am going off the script, and skipping telling you about my thoughts on American Idol, or how Javi and I like to look up at the night sky for the moon or shooting stars. We are going off road.

So.

I have been driving to a couple of schools in Delaware County, where I teach kids in an afterschool program twice a week. It is probably an hour and a half each way, so I have a lot of time to think, to drive, to scout for spears or arrow shafts, or fresh road kill, or any number of great wilderness resources that you can find along a country road side if you keep your eyes open. But mostly, I've just been listening.

Collapse, by Jared Diamond. Among other things. But mostly the audio version of his book.

People, friends, past students and campers, family, I've got to tell you: We've got some serious changing about to happen, and it is coming up very fast.

I know this isn't that ground breaking. I mean, anyone who has been paying the slightest bit of attention in the past six months to the financial collapse knows what I am talking about. If you watched an Inconvenient Truth, you know what I am talking about. If you have paid attention to the increasing rates of extinction, you know what I am talking about. If you think Monsanto is a bad idea, you know what I am talking about.

Do I need to go on?

But, what do we actually do? I mean, what can we do? When do we get up off the couch or table and begin to make changes? What changes should we make first? What is the best way to make the most impact? How should we do it?

If there is one thing I have seen a lot of in the past five years of teaching that is new and scary, is the 'deer in the headlights' syndrome, where students, when asked to do something that they might not be sure of how to do, will exhibit. They will freeze, and just wait until told what to do. They won't take initiative, and their fear of doing something the wrong way, or making a mistake, is so great that they will instead do nothing. They will wait and wait and wait.

Isn't that the same thing that is happening now? Aren't we waiting to see what someone else is going to do, to be inspired, or instructed or told so we can be sure to be on the same page and not make a mistake?

Why don't we trust our own inner voices, that are probably pretty hoarse from screaming at us, to get a move on, little doggy? Why can't we just make the jump and, if, five years, ten years from now, someone says, ha ha, wow, aren't we glad that the world didn't end yet, we can just smile and laugh along with them, while we pick our own beans, corn or apples? Heck, we can talk all the way to the root cellar, or the cider press, or whatever.

There is one thing that I got from reading his book that is particularly chilling: The concept called Creeping Normalcy, where the changes are happening but they happen so slowly, over so many years, that everyone sort of just goes along with the crowd and by the time they begin to fight against the current of society, it is too little, too late.

Maybe it is too late already. I will hold that that could very well be true. Seriously. There may be nothing that we can do to stop the events that are set in motion. In that case, all of the preparation in the world can't help you feed five hundred thousand hungry refugees and take care of your own family when the collapse happens.

I struggle to write this and put this out there to all of you, because for a long time I have not wanted to create fear in people. To have everyone think I am against society, or using fear to get people into programs or whatever. Because maybe, I just didn't want to admit that the inner voice I have is right, and that I am scared myself for the future.

I do know that the skills we offer can help, so I trust that. Skills are like a vaccine against fear.

But I am just sending this out there to say that it is time to start listening to your own inner voice, in whatever way you choose, and then, act.

You know. Do Something!

And then listen some more and act again.

I can't say it will save the world, but it just might. And I will add that in any case, it will feel good to listen to your own inner self and that is not a relief taken lightly. Listening and acting will bring you into alignment with your own personal vision, your purpose for being here, on this world, right now. It gets you on with why you are really here.

Okay, I guess I am done for now and my inner voice needs to go to sleep.

Good luck, to all of us. I think we are gonna need it!

Barry Keegan's Friction Fire Intensive April 3-5, 2009

2009-04-01T00:26:00.014-04:00

You know, most people don't really know Barry Keegan. This guy surprises me all of the time, even after knowing him for about eight years! Barry is a very unique kind of instructor, combining extensive knowledge of survival and native skills, with detailed research of historical references of these same skills.

Take canoes, for example. I mean, we've all heard about the native style birch bark canoes, right? Sure. Got it. No problem.

But Barry, well, he makes Elm Bark Canoes. Hickory Bark. Spruce Bark.

Spruce Bark? Really?

Really. I mean, we have an elm bark canoe upstairs in our barn right now, that he made with our Earth Skills students. It is the coolest thing ever.

Barry loves to track down the earliest known references to those canoes, or stone celts, or the original shape of bows made with stone tools. The bow he helped me make, which I just finished tillering two weeks ago, is styled from a stencil he made of a stone tool made native bow in Sudbury, MA, which he was able to view first hand in his research on bows and native hunting implements.

It's obvious that he loves learning, and he loves to make stuff. Everything. You can feel it when you hold anything he's made in your hands. Smooth. Functional. More than just a stone or a piece of wood, if you know what I mean.

He also loves to share his knowledge in classes with students, and while much of that information goes over the heads of beginner students, they come to appreciate it after the fact too.

Barry works harder than anyone I know to perfect a skill in every detail. His pottery is exquisite. Barry's bows just gleam with rich lustrous wood grain, strength and form. Don't even get me started on his arrowheads and projectile points!

It's not easy to get all of the knowledge that Barry holds in one place. I'm not just saying that, either. He doesn't teach what he doesn't know, and he provides meticulous references, too. They aren't the same old recycled books, either, but articles, journal entries from early settlers, even archeologists and researchers in Europe and beyond.

If you get a chance to come take Barry's Friction Fire Workshop, or the Native Clay Pottery Workshop, or the upcoming Flintknapping Intensive in September, you won't be disappointed! Write us for more information, or check out the Hawk Circle website....

Gotta run, but I will write more about the Spring Earth Skills Semester and other news as soon as possible!

Facing the Unknown: Healing and Growth in the New Economy

2009-03-18T01:10:00.019-04:00

This post could be titled "What I've been doing for the last three weeks", if I am being totally honest. And you know what? I could easily just say that I have been boiling maple sap, going to schools, ice fishing, tracking and painting the farmhouse. All of which are true.

But that wouldn't be exactly honest, now, would it?

I mean, it makes for a great newsletter, you know. Wilderness guy takes the brush and roller in hand, makes maple syrup, goes tracking and ice fishing and all that homey stuff you come to expect from Hawk Circle and me, maybe.

Nothing wrong with that. In fact, it is really good stuff. Usually.

But in this case, it isn't good enough. No. Not nearly good enough. Because if I tell you all that good stuff, you know, how we tracked some fisher, some foxes, or bobcats, or had fun trying to catch fish through the ice, whatever, it wouldn't be real. It would feel fake, or more correctly, like a half truth. And I can't do that this time.

The whole story is that I have been going through a lot in the last three weeks. A lot. Feelings of all kinds have been ripping through me like waves, and I have been working hard to understand and integrate what has been going on.

You see, I am a guy. A man. And we don't have the reputation for a huge emotional range, or familiarity with the five thousand different shades of emotion and depth. (Think: A hundred different words to describe snow, or something like that!) Which doesn't mean we don't feel them all. We do.

It's just that we are hard wired to be more fight or flight types. Rather than communicate all of those feelings.

So, why all the feelings? What is going on?

Well, it's the economy. The uncertainty. The fear. That is definitely creating a fight or flight response. Except there is no where to flee too, and usually no one to fight with.

I see it in the faces of the men I play basketball with. A lot of them are scared. Nothing is predictable anymore, and things that seemed rock solid and sure have evaporated like the morning mist. It doesn't feel good, for a man, who wants to be able to tell his family that things will be all right, and feel sure about it, and for them to know they can trust him, to feel that way in this new world we are living in.

Trust me, most men are wired to get food, provide, and lead their families, their band or tribe, through the cold and the dust to a good place. A place where we can all feel good and positive and build something beautiful for this life, for this world. But I know I can't do that right now. Many of the instincts and senses still work, but the messages are conflicting. And so much of our lives are based on connections and relationships that intersect and make each other stronger and better.

I know all the stuff about the wolverine and everything, and that is good stuff. It is good to focus on that when we are preparing for action. But when you are painting for hours on end, or sitting in the cold wind boiling sap, you start to think about things. And feel those feelings. At least, I know I have.

It is hard right now for us. Enrollment in our camps is very slow. Scary slow. We have afterschool groups going on, and a small semester program, too, but the flow of income and energy is trickling and we are an organization that doesn't have vast resources of cash reserves, or an endowment, or anything like that. So we take action, we work hard, we leverage our resources, all that good stuff, but in the end, we wait to see what happens. We can't really add to our debt right now, and most of the banks aren't lending either. We do what we can, like everyone else in the world right now. We pray. We are thankful for what we have. We offer our mission and our lives and our vision to the Universe to help guide us through these times.

I know that if nothing else happens in this crazy world but this, I will be thankful. Because this experience has opened me to healing and my own growth that is so powerful and profound that I can't express how grateful I feel about it. It has been an opportunity that is like the perfect storm, if you know what I mean. The right conditions, pressure, winds, whatever, to create the energy and will to heal, to grow, to change. For me! Of all people, me. Which I have needed for a long time.

I am not getting too personal here, because when healing happens for me, it happens across the full spectrum of my life, not just in one area or another. Everything. And I have been waiting for a long time for this. A long, long time.

Most of it surrounds the fact that I have worked and worked and worked, as hard as I know how, as I am able, to help Hawk Circle and the circle of staff, students, campers and community, to grow and prosper and find hope, renewal and light in this world. And I have struggled with myself as much as the challenges that lay before us, working against myself, ironically enough, to find a way to grow. The feelings of despair, of disappointment, and frustration usually are there, just under the surface of my consciousness, for not being able to bring Hawk Circle to a stronger place, a more secure future, or to be more successful than it is.

(Just a side note: I am proud of all that we have accomplished in the last 20 years, and I feel great about where we are going, too, and how so many people have believed in us and still support us in many different ways, it is overwhelming at times too!)

However, the threat of the slow economy and the realities of low cash flow has only served to accenuate my fear, my own inability to be better than we are, etc, and opened my whole self to letting go of my own expectations and stress, and look within. Which has been very scary. And good too, at the same time. I know it sounds crazy, but things are crazy right now, so it kind of fits.

We still need campers, and support. We aren't giving up on our mission, our vision. I know we stand ready to serve, to teach and to guide, in the best way possible, without fear and with love and respect and thankfulness. I know I am afraid, but also filled with gratitude and hope.

The rest of this story has yet to be written. What happens next?

Time will tell. I will let you know, too. Stay tuned!

By the way, I finished my bow that I was working on for the last six years or so, really slowly! Thanks to Barry Keegan for all of his time and support! And Barry is helping Connor with his bow tillering in the pics here. And I am adding some pics of our maple processing and Trista with our baby rabbits! So it wasn't all healing and growth for the last few months. There was some ordinary Hawk Circle type stuff too!

Note: New blog to follow!

2009-02-08T20:56:00.008-05:00

Hey everyone!

I have a short announcement to make about the blog our current Earth Skills Circle the Seasons student Connor O'Malley is writing about his year here at Hawk Circle. He has some great photos and is going to post about his experiences and skills training too. Check it out! It's called, oddly enough, Circle the Seasons.

More info to come soon about 2009 workshops, camps and programs!

Help from the Wilderness: My new eBook Wolverine Survival.

2009-01-30T15:01:00.002-05:00

I just finished my eBook Wolverine Survival: Ten Secrets of Wilderness Survival to help you Survive the Economic Storm.

It was hard to keep it short. It was hard to cut out all kinds of stories and examples of each principle, to make it clear, to the point and get it out in a timely way. It was good to write, and see how these secret principles are woven throughout every part of my life and outlook on the world.

I don't know if you are in trouble, or worried, or what. It doesn't matter. The bottom line is, these principles can help clear through the fog that fear creates, and offer something of power. A path. A direction. Allies and partners....

I hope you and your family, your business, your community, are ok. I know that even if you are, you are still feeling it. The storm is vast and reaching across the globe in it's scope and impact. If you don't feel it right now, you will.

And it is a good thing, too. We need a wake up call. We need to make some adjustments, and change. It will force us to think in different ways. To work together to find solutions. To see the world a little differently. To recognize, grow and thrive.

I don't like to be afraid. What is the opposite of fear?

Trust.

In the long run, it's the mental game that gives us the ability to weather storms, whether they are actual blizzards or just storms of change. It is our mind and our hearts and our faith in the world that gives us strength to find a way to survive. So that is what I focused on.

Well, I hope it helps.
Let me know what you think.

Thanks and keep walking the good road.

Ricardo

The Winter Intensive 2009 Down the Frozen Rabbit Hole!

2009-01-18T19:09:00.006-05:00

We started with snow shelters and moved on to fire. Lots and lots of fire! Tinder studies. Tipi fires. One Match fires. Flint and steel fires. Wet tinder and wood fires, after rain and freezing rain for 24 hours. Then, it was bow and drill, followed by hand drill and even some fire plow just for fun!

Fun Fact: Doing a hand drill or bow drill in the snow with below zero wind chills is not as easy as it sounds! It really takes a lot of time to get that board, the drill and the tinder warmed up enough before you can start to make a coal, and the uneven snow does keep things interesting too!

I am having a blast. The students are totally into every thing we do, including making traps, setting up bait stations to see what types of buds and twigs the rabbits prefer, and all kinds of crafts, too. We even tried our hand at ice fishing, although we didn't get any bits, so that wasn't as fun!

Tracking has been good, and it has been frozen and cold all last week. We made a fire in the snow one day and it was a good sized fire, about the size of a thirteen gallon trash can. At 0ºF, I needed to be about eight inches away from the flames to actually feel the warmth from it, in the open air. Water bottles and food freezes solid in an hour if left exposed. Have you ever tried carving up a peanut butter and jelly sandwich! That's what I'm talking about!

Trista has made powerbars, energy bars, pine needle tea, birch beer and even a birch healing salve for our dried and cracked skin. We enjoy sitting around the table, sharing meals and talking about our experiences, our stories, kicking back around the woodstove and drying our mittens and socks... (Someone has to do it!)

We dried meat for the trek, but most everyone ate all of the meat while we were drying it, because it was so good. We have some good coal burned spoons, and the soapstone sculptures are really nice too. Everyone is supportive, positive, motivated and hard working. I couldn't ask for a better group of students to teach and enjoy the winter days.

We have a week left, and tomorrow they are heading off for the four days. I will be there most of the time, and we should get some good tracking in, and maybe do some new things with fire, or some birch bark crafts, or even snow goggles!

When we return, we have some community celebrating to do, as well as a sweatlodge ceremony, to ground our experiences together in spirit and the earth.

I am going to miss everyone when this class is over.

A Week with My Son, Javier

2008-11-24T01:45:00.007-05:00

When Javi started falling asleep while we were trick or treating for Halloween, we knew something wasn't right. It was a cold night but not too cold, and he just couldn't get warm and he couldn't stay awake. He just wanted to push his head back as far as it could go and then keep his eyes closed, like the light hurt his eyes....

We went home immediately and let him rest, sleep a little, and he woke up an hour later, had some candy and seemed a little better. He said he had headaches and that he didn't feel good, but there was no cough, no fever, no other things that usually go with the flu, or a cold. Trista and I got that familiar feeling in the pit of our stomachs, like we were going to be going through something really hard again.

Javi was born with spina bifida, and he can't walk. He has poor balance at times, and it is difficult for him to do crafts or write or do artwork. He has a v.p. shunt, because he has hydrocephalus, which is too much cerebral spinal fluid in the brain. Usually it flows and bathes and is absorbed along our spinal column, but for him, it doesn't work that way. So the shunt helps that to be okay.

Except when it doesn't. Sometimes, they stop working. He had problems with it five years ago, and he had it revised. Which meant surgery, and it was hard for us, but it worked out and we made it through. He was a lot younger then, and it was touch and go. But the neurosurgeons were really good and everyone took great care of him and it was done quickly when they realized that it was needed, so he was able to recover with no problems.

In this current case, however, he didn't show all of the signs of shunt failure that indicate that that was what was happening. He would sleep through the night and have periods of feeling better. He had a huge appetite, which is almost the opposite indicator. When he wasn't feeling better by Monday, we took him in to see his pediatrician and he said it looked like he just had a virus that contributed to some migraines. "It could be ten days before he would feel a lot better, but that it didn't seem anything more serious than that." We tried to breathe a little easier, but it was shallow breathing. I'll admit it.

I tried to work through the days that followed, but it was really hard. I couldn't concentrate, and I hated leaving him with Trista, worrying that if something were to happen, I wouldn't be there to help her. He is getting big now, about 55 lbs, and she has trouble lifting him, so I tend to stay close throughout the day, so she doesn't hurt her back.

On Thursday, he was worse, and the Tylenol we were giving him wasn't touching the pain. We packed some things because we knew we were taking him in to the hospital and there was no telling what might happen or when we might get out. Javi was feeling so out of it he didn't really have time to get nervous or worried about it. That is the good thing about being that sick, I guess. You don't have time to get freaked out. Unfortunately, neither Trista or myself were sick, so we could go through the full range of emotions.

They took an MRI when we got to the local hospital here in Cooperstown, and then they sent us to Albany Med, where they have a Children's Hospital. I rode in the Ambulance, and Javi kept talking about his brother Matthew coming to see him, and wanting to know if he could have chocolate chip pancakes when he got home, and would he be out of the hospital in time to see his sister's play. It was hard to ride with him and comfort him, holding his hand, but I know it was harder for Trista, following us in the car. I could tell she was crying the whole way.

We got to the ER and eventually got admitted by the early evening. The neurosurgeons wanted to find out if he had pressure on his optic nerves, so they had a young doctor come to test him, carrying a huge black bag with her portable lab equipment. She should have had a cart, honestly. She checked his eyes, from top to bottom, and said he seemed okay.

I don't know how to describe being in the hospital for those first few hours. It is like holding your breath, constantly, and waiting endlessly for whoever was trying to figure out what was happening to come by and talk to you. The nurses checked him every fifteen minutes, so he wasn't really sleeping, and we were on the edge of our seats, watching for signs of improvement, then offering that info to the doctors and nurses. They wouldn't let him eat, because they were worried that he would need surgery, so Javi kept talking about food in a voice that was unusual for him. It was kind of flat, I guess, would be the best way to describe it, without the usual hills and valleys of expression. Very different for our little guy, who is so vocal and talkative most of the time. I could tell it was driving him crazy to be so hungry, but he hung in there.....

Finally, they let him eat, and said they would just observe him for a while to see if they could determine the reason for his headaches. Javi felt a little better, too, and after eating, he was able to hang out a little and even watch TV. But he was really tired. We were officially admitted, and headed up the the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.

The doctors didn't want to do the surgery unless they could tell for sure that it actually was a shunt problem. After all, who wants to have any surgery on the chance that it might not help you? We sure didn't, but on the other hand, it was hard to have him feeling so bad for so long.... and not know how to get him help to make him feel better.

I walked through the hallways, so emotionally raw, trying to think of something we could do to help him. Trista called a medical intuitive, which was marginally helpful. We were just there with him, all of the time, so he never felt alone. We took turns sleeping after a while, because by Sunday, we were wiped out. Still nothing conclusive.

I'd head downstairs to get food from the cafe, and I could see other parents or sons or daughters, moving in a daze, just trying to breathe and get through each moment. I tried to find a way to smile at them, even as I knew my face was probably just as transparent. I saw doctors and nurses and adminstrators moving about, quickly getting food before heading back to work.

I admired their ability to do this kind of work, and to be around people in their greatest moments of need. Life and death, pain and suffering, healing and wellness, all rolled into one big series of buildings, with teams of people trained for years to be the best, the smartest, the most attentive to the smallest details, because everything hinges on really helping those in need.

I saw the many floors, with hundreds of people, with hard jobs and simple jobs, to keep this whole place clean, in top working order, organized and in sync. I was amazed and grateful that this team was working to help my son, as he lay in pain, and I was helpless to do anything for him except hold his hand, or get him juice or whatever he needed. I didn't know what to say to these doctors and nurses, all of whom seemed to be ten years younger than me, but fully competent and able and attentive to my son's needs. They were so caring!

When we realized that there was a wireless connection in the hospital, I sent out a newsletter about our programs but with an update to let our greater Hawk Circle community know that we were there, with Javi, in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. We didn't have much to share about it, but it just felt important to let everyone know that he was there and that we were there with him and that we were doing everything we could.

Your responses just blew me away. They came back, one after the other, and I would tell Trista and she would ask me about who each person was if she didn't know already. Javi would ask too, and mostly he just tried to sleep. I felt like it was something we could do, I could do, which was to ask for help, and to let everyone who knew Javi be somehow, in some small way, be connected to him.

Javi doesn't go to school, and he doesn't have a lot of friends his own age. Most of his community of friends are the people of Hawk Circle, our community, who get to see him in a workshop, for a little while, or at the camp, or during our Earth Skills Semesters. He has people who take care of him, who provide speech and physical therapy, occupational therapy, and he has his family, which is scattered over the country usually. Cell phones aren't allowed in the PICU, so it was hard to stay in touch with everyone about how he was doing and not leave his side.

He got worse by Tuesday, and they decided to do surgery. That was a long two hours, let me tell you. On one hand, it is the worst feeling in the world to know your son needs surgery. On the other hand, it is better than sitting there, watching him get worse and fading from the world. So it was good, and scary and bad and everything, all rolled into one.

There were people waiting for sons, daughters, uncles and moms, all in surgery already or just going in. Some were just getting knee surgery, something that was needed but not life-threatening, and I was jealous of how easily they seemed to talk, how relaxed they were. I thought of all of the hospital shows, like Grey's Anatomy, or ER, or even Scrubs, where the doctor comes out and says 'I'm sorry... we did everything we could, blah blah blah' and I just couldn't bear to think of living my life without my son.

On the other hand, I did know that he was strong, that he was full of light, and that he would be okay, no matter what happened, because we are all beings of light, and this world is but one of many... But I still worried about him, being so young, and having to deal with all of this trauma and drama, with all of the other challenges he has to face, each day.

But each thing I thought just made my head spin, so Trista and I just tried to wait, and be present for each other and breathe. Jesse, his sister, came to the hospital and waited with us, and we all tried to just stay calm and comfort each other in this impersonal surgical waiting room.

The short version of this story is that the doctor came out and told us that he did great, the surgery went very well, and Javi was out of any danger and seeming to recover very well. We rushed upstairs to see him and he was sleeping. He was wiped out. Days of no sleep, just painful, crushing headaches, were finally relieved, and this blissfull sleep lay on him like a soft cloud. His head was shaved on one side, where they put the new shunt in, and covered with bandages. His small body smelled of the odor of the anesthetic, but he was resting, with real rest that was healing and good. We talked when he woke up, and his voice ws back, tired but back, and I just lost it. I was so grateful to him, for being so strong, and to the doctors, and the nurses, and the hospital employees, and to Trista, who was always here for him, and me too. I felt sick to my stomach, I was so happy.

I realized that I hadn't slept really either, and that probably made me more emotional than usual, but I didn't care. I met my mom, who flew in from California, and she took watch with Javi while Trista and I fell asleep in the Parent's Room. (Note: No one actually sleeps there, so they decided to get the most uncomfortable beds!)

Javi got better each day and we were soon home, but with a new appreciation for every day, for every moment with him and with our family. I was never so happy to sleep in my own bed, and make a fire in the woodstove and cook our own food and be together.

We still ask about the boy who was in the room across from ours, who had been in a car accident and didn't know who he was. He kept asking the nurses if he was in jail, and what happened, and he needed a lot of help from his own injuries. We all knew that while we went through our own trials, we were still going home. We were lucky. And grateful. And we prayed and sent good thoughts to that young man and his family.

The prayers and e-mails and good messages really meant everything to my family, when we were about as low as we could be. We could feel that support. I don't know how, but we could. It comforted us in our time of need. And I am thankful to everyone for it.

I could go on and on about things I saw, felt and heard but I think this is already the longest blog entry I have ever written. So I will stop. But there is a lot more I could write, believe me!

If you ever need help like we did, just let us know, and we will do the same. I hope you never need it, but if you do, we will be there. All of us. And Javi knows what it means now, too.

Somehow, I think he always did.

Vote, and then sign up for the Advanced Bird Language Course! Coming May 3-8, 2009

2008-10-29T23:14:00.003-04:00

A lot of people think that learning bird language is just memorizing a bunch of bird songs. You know the type of naturalist, who can imitate any bird? (I am secretly jealous of those folks, even as I call them bird nerds!)

Anyway, this isn't that kind of class.

The bird language we are talking about is far more useful, universal and full of information. It is about understanding the mood of the birds. The tones they are using, and how, to be able to inform us about what is going on in the woods that we can't see.

In the summer, the foliage is so thick that it is almost impossible to see deer, coyotes, foxes or bobcats. In these situations, we really need our feathered brothers and sisters to help us get a clue as to what is moving about.

Not only is it cool, it can save someone's life.

Bird language can tell us through concentric rings, when someone is coming up the road, up the trail, with plenty of time to hide if you are alone and it is dangerous. Bird language can tell you if there are predators around, another good thing.

Bird language can also give us ways of moving through the forest where we don't set off the alarms that tell other people or animals, that we are there. Yes, I know! Isn't that cool?!

In other words, the secret of invisibility, true invisibility, is contained in these teachings.

Dan has worked hard for years to get them. He hasn't taught this course since the last time he was here, at Hawk Circle, in 2004. (On the East Coast, that is.) And he is a wealth of knowledge that I would venture to say, one of the top three people who could teach this course. He might be in a class of one. I'm not sure. He's humble and probably wouldn't even cop to that, so whatever. The bottom line is, I don't know where you would go to get an intensive like this.

Have you ever gone to a language course, and 'almost learned how to speak the language?' Yeah, it sucks. You are so close, and then you have to go home and you instantly forget it all. Well, that's why this isn't a short, introductory, weekend course for beginners. It's the real deal. You won't fall between the cracks, and you will actually learn to do this stuff. For real.

And, if you take the time to go out in your own neighborhood, your home, etc, and practice what you learned, then you will soon master the details. And it will change the way you see nature forever.

I use it all of the time. During deer hunting season. On tracking classes. On hikes, gathering or exploring. Or just around the home, to know where my cat is at all times, or my kids, or my students.

I invite you to come and be a part of this program. We are only opening this class up to 20 people, so if you are at all inclined to learn this, well, don't wait to get your application in and deposit. We might not run it again for a few years, and I don't know where else you will go to get this detailed look at a vital skill.

I hate writing the above paragraph, because it sounds like I am pandering to fear, etc. I totally don't want you to feel that way. I am just stating a solid fact about the course, our schedules and ability to bring Dan Gardoqui in for an intensive class, and saying, hey, if you are serious about learning, this is the time to do it.

There's plenty of advance notice. Make the time, find a way, figure it out, whatever. We hope you will join us and if you need to make payments to take the course, you can start now.

There are a lot of people who study wilderness skills, learn to make fire, make a little buckskin, sleep in a shelter a few times and notice a few tracks from time to time. They are great people who are taking their time learning this stuff, and they won't get better anytime soon. It is too slow of a pace for them to really grow and become truly connected to nature and the Earth.

If you want to grow, you have to make the effort. And the payoff is big. It is a sure thing, even. In these financial times, the investment in your own education, your own knowledge, is something you can bank on. Well, on a river bank, I guess!

Hope to see you there! Call or write with any questions and enjoy the exodus of the birds for the warmer climes!

Ricardo

Moving Past Fear: The Wilderness Survival Metaphor and Current Events

2008-10-02T22:17:00.004-04:00

It doesn't take more than reading the front pages or watching the news to figure out that America is in trouble. The financial changes that are coming are going to be tough for a lot of people. A lot of our 'pillars of society' are crumbling and it can seem like our entire way of life will never be the same. But what is interesting is how our country, and even the world, is reacting as if we are all destroyed, and no one has died. Nothing has happened except that the concept of money, which is a societal creation, has changed. It has been exposed as 'the answer to our prayers' and we can't rely on it as our sole source of security and comfort.

As scary as all of this seems, life will move forward, and we will find ways to adjust, and move past the fear. In it's place will be people, working together, finding ways to connect, share and grow.

Some people won't be that lucky, though. The change is going to hit hard and it will take a long time to recover.

Being in these difficult situations isn't really the problem, however.

But the real issue here is the lack of leadership. Leaders can get everyone pointed in the right direction, working together and moving towards a common goal. Even if the direction isn't always the perfect answer, it helps us all to do something, rather than sit and wait. And we can adjust as we go, making small course changes rather than picking a far away goal and then working blindly towards it. Leaders are the people who are still confident that we will thrive and survive, and find a way to get to our goal along the way...

It helps in a crisis, to use the wilderness survival metaphor. In other words, what are our priorities? What are our 'needs'? What are our resources? Who are our allies?

In the wilderness, when you are lost or stuck, you have to do all of the above. You have to let go of your 'wants' and focus on your needs. You have to find shelter, clean water, have heat and food. You prioritize based on the weather, your resources and your family or group.

When you first realize that you are in a survival situation, you should be thankful for what you have, rather than complain about what you don't have. You have to stay positive, mentally, and believe that you will not only survive but thrive, from your experience.

In this financial storm, you should remember that our grandparents and elders survived the Great Depression, and they made sacrifices to get through. They have stories of people who helped and worked together to make their futures and grow through it all. It didn't last forever, and it spawned the greatest period of middle class success and productivity that America has known. (Yes, I know this can be argued everywhichway, but the bottom line is that most of America is not currently living at the same level of free-time, debt-free, leisure and family time of the 40's, 50's and 60's. The disparity of wealth is what it is.)

Survival thinking is not negative. It is about strategy, and trust, and learning skills to make life easier. One of my teachers, Tom Brown, Jr., often said, "If you are struggling in the wilderness, for any reason, it is because, quite simply, that your skills suck." Of course, this quote is both humorous and telling. It applies both to the wilderness and to life in society. Whenever I have been struggling in my work at Hawk Circle, I often think, "What skills do I need to learn or do better, to allow me to get past this struggle?" It works, far better than simply complaining, or looking for someone or something to blame.

I will talk more about these ideas in a few days, but let me know what you think about them, and if they are helpful to you in this time of change. Don't panic, and keep breathing. We are going to get through this, together!

Seeking Deer, Finding Strength

2008-09-16T09:31:00.005-04:00

I am a hunter. I mean no offense to those of you who are vegetarians, for any reason, and I can understand, both rationally, and emotionally, that decision. I honor anyone for that.

However, I am a hunter, usually, just for deer. I also fish, when I get a chance, to feed my family and connect us to the natural world. I hunt to connect with the spirit of the deer, like hunters have done for millenia, to hunt and seek and test myself and stay strong. My awareness changes from that of a teacher and director to something more, something that fills me with wind, brush, autumn smells and cold air flowing down the mountain.

At this time of year, I walk through the forest, through the fields and old orchards, enjoying the flowers, the crisp blue sky and the smell of freshly fallen apples, but I am looking for any and all signs of the passing of deer. Tracks. Nibbled browse. Pushdowns through the tall grass. Piles of brown pellet scat.

The other day, I saw where the deer had moved from an open meadow to some thicker brush. I bent down and peered along the narrows where thin legs had passed. Just being in that place, looking in that way, I had the sensation of something wild inside of me coming alive. I saw hair pulled and stuck on a sharp stick, scraped off at shoulder height. I could almost feel the scratch in my own shoulder.

Even as I looked at the trail, I was seeing the whole landscape play before me, like an aerial camera. The swamp, the tangle of apples, the raspberries, the open maples, the ferns and grass, all of them with their options of concealment and vantage points. Where was this deer going? Where would it stop? Where would it lift it's nose and try to catch the scent of whatever was following it?

I stopped myself. The trail was days old, the story unfolding before me ancient history to this deer, who was probably up on the hill, bedded down for the afternoon, dozing in the warm sun and chewing last night's browse. Part of me shifted back to the 'rational me' but the native hunter part, the primal part, didn't want to let go of being alive, awake and in control. Even in just minutes of release, it felt good. My body felt good. I shivered, and walked on.

When I scout the trails and fields, I look for deer trails with heavy use. Frequent use. Which direction are they headed? Up or down? I find the feeding areas, the brush that has been browsed in the past few days. I look for oaks, with their dropping acorns, and I look for apples that have been crushed by molars, bits and pieces falling out of narrow mouths.

Deer need three to five pounds of browse, (read: woody, shrubby buds and branches, not grass) for their stomachs and digestion to work correctly. They can't just eat corn, or alfalfa, or clover. They need cover, to hide and break up their outline to predators, and they need places to go for water. They need solitude, even if it is just areas where humans almost never tread.

If there is an area where you never go because it is too thick with brush, brambles or general tree thickets, you can bet that is where the deer are spending a lot of time. Along with a lot of other animals....

Scouting these areas, I start to get a picture of what is going on this year, this season. Deer are creatures of habit, but they also don't waste energy and time. If there is a change in food sources, they will move to those sources. And change trails. You have to do your homework, pretty much all of the time.

At Hawk Circle, we have lots and lots of woods, cover and food. It is tough to hunt sometimes, because the deer can be literally anywhere, and they are difficult to predict. Which makes it a challenge. Some people I know hunt active farms, and there are more fields and meadows, with predictable lines of cover and trails, where deer have fewer choices in movement and bedding. In those cases, your scouting is a lot quicker.

I will be taking our Fall Earth Skills Semester students out to find these trails, scout the areas and explore what is going on. Usually, by the end of the day, they are very pumped to sit out and 'hunt', even if it is just with a camera. Some actually hunt, but it is very difficult with a native style bow for beginners to get close enough to even take a shot. But that doesn't keep us from trying and feeling that ancient hunter inside that makes us feel strong and alive and awake!

See you in the woods.

How Wilderness Skills Reconnect Families

2008-08-26T22:26:00.006-04:00

Hey All,

I am back from a trip down South, where I spent a week teaching a wonderful family about nature, about wilderness skills and native ways. For five days, we made fires, coal burned bowls and spoons, practiced hunting skills, explored the woods and streams, cooked over the fire, sewed leather pouches, made arrowheads and stone tools, carved bone and drilled stone pendants and twisted cordage from milkweed, dogbane and tulip poplar. We also sat in a circle around a fire, shared food and drink, took care of each other in many ways, kept our camp clean and listened to the sounds of nature.

Northern Alabama is hot in August, I won't pretend that it isn't! But the Creator was kind and smiled on us, and gave us some cool nights, and a beautiful breeze, and a sweet, cool stream where we could wash off the dust of the day, escape the heat and be renewed. We slept, played and learned underneath huge hickory, beech, sweet gum and oak trees, where the air was fresh and clean. The cicadas serenaded us all night, loudly, and the coyotes enjoyed the Coyote stories we shared around the fire at night, howling and barking their protests and pleasure! The woods were full of all kinds of owls and woodpeckers. The land was good to us and we learned from her each day, each night, even as we slept, lying on her soft ground.

Learning and sharing the skills of living close to the earth brings a family together in many ways. It brings us close to each other, as we look after each other with wood carving, or sharing a meal, or using fire to make a tool. We get to spend time with each other away from the electronic distractions of the modern world. We eat bread that is well done, toasted over the fire, and pick our way along the rocky stream bottom, holding hands and keeping our balance.

What other activity do you know that can bring a family together in this way? Nature's power is so great! She soothes us with her winds, her colors and her sounds. The skills of survival are built into us, genetically, as our ancestors all were hunter-gatherers, and we find ourselves in little ways as we make the tools and practice those skills. Carving a bowl, my hands work hard to create something unique, special, useful and beautiful. It relieves my stress, and the smell of the wood opens my senses and my deeper awareness. These skills help us grow as we develop them, and as a family, we get to see each other grow before our very eyes. We are there to see the joy on our child's face as they learn to drill a hole in a stone pendant, or make the evening's campfire.

As a parent, I love family camp outs. I know it is a lot of work. It isn't easy to drop our work, let go of checking our e-mail, and plan meals, set up tents and bring gear, etc. But it is very, very important. Our kids need these experiences, and if given the chance, they will help with the camp chores and make it work. They need to get dirty, and hot, and hungry, too. They need to learn how to do these most basic things to take care of themselves, because it is the foundation upon which to build our very lives.

I am not just talking about fire-making, or survival skills, either. Self soothing is a skill, where we take the time we need to let go of stress and unwind and heal by the banks of the river, or leaning against a tree. Studies have shown the extremely detrimental effects of stress on our bodies and mental health, and learning how to 'self sooth' at an early age is a true gift of life that we can give our kids by learning to unwind and relax in nature.

Leadership and communication is something that can be strengthened by a wilderness trip. We learn to talk to each other to make the decisions that affect us all, and share in a circle, in council, using a talking stick and listening with our hearts. Leadership is more than just making decisions, too, as good leaders rely on a deep and sensitive awareness of everyone in the group, their mood, morale, focus and needs.

My week in Alabama was amazing and special, as I got to spend so much quality time with everyone and see how hard each person worked in all of these areas. There was a deep caring, and a strong love between them as well. It was lonely indeed as I loaded up my gear and hit the road for my 18 hour/two day drive home. It was strange not to see Bella by the fire, or Lili working on her crafts or Robert showing off a salamander or frog.... We are back in our daily lives, getting ready for school or back to work, but the moments we shared by the Cypress Creek campsite will live in our hearts forever.

It's not too late to plan a campout before the cold comes! Don't wait, and if you need ideas of what to do, write and I will try to help you out! Trust me, it is well worth the effort....

Summer Winding Down

2008-08-13T01:12:00.007-04:00

It has been so busy here this year that I haven't had a chance to blog much these days. I am hoping that this will change, but I can't be certain! We are building timber frames, making beds and bunks for the camp cabins, clearing old fields of brush, working in the garden, cutting firewood, putting wood chip down on our trails and lots more important, good and fun projects that make Hawk Circle feel good.

We did raise a cabin since we put up Aspen! It is called Maple, and I will have more pics of it soon, and I will tell you all about it. It went very smoothly, the raising, that is, and we are working on the roofing and getting the siding up and rolling. It is a beautiful cabin in a great location nestled in among the maples on the west side of the camp area, near the lean to. I am enclosing a picture, too.....

I almost forgot to mention the awesome camps and skills being taught this summer to all of our campers..... How do you quantify that? You just can't! I will tell you more about them, though, I promise!

I am packing up for a trip to Alabama for a family skills week there, teaching all kinds of wild things like fire, shelter, water, food, stone tools, hunting skills, crafts, cooking and exploring and getting close to nature. It is going to be a great experience, and while I will miss my family while I am gone, I know it will help me to grow as an instructor and as a person too.

Luke is wrapping up a year of being our Youth Programs Director, and he is doing the Scout Skills Intensive this week and heading out for the Adirondack Expedition next week, so he will be busy. He has done a great job this year making our youth programs really great and working well with the summer staff too. We will miss him when he is gone in September.

The Fall Earth Skills Semester is coming up and I am looking forward to that as well as all of our workshops too. They are going to rock!

I will write more about them in the coming weeks, but until then, Trista might be filling in for me and sharing some of her work and vision about Hawk Circle too! Just so you know! Enjoy her posts and in the meantime, have a great 'end of summer' season!

Meet Aspen, Our Newest Camp Cabin Frame

2008-06-29T19:20:00.007-04:00

Hey! Here is the reason I haven't been blogging lately. It's called timber framing and we have been building and cutting the frames for two more cabins in the past couple of months. Craig Boynton taught us last August about the techniques, which are traditional methods, using square rule and lots of heirloom chisels, slicks and corner chisels. It is fun, a lot of hard work, and addictive, as almost anything done by hand is when done well, and we have been enjoying our work in the barn, making rafters, posts, plates, girts and braces, not to even mention all of those pegs!

Aspen is the first cabin that I measured and did the layout for, without Craig's guidance. I made a few minor errors but nothing that impacted the beauty and strength of this wonderful space. It felt really great to see all the beam and pieces come together to form a strong structure that will last for generations.

It is the second cabin completed in our Sustainability Campaign, as we move from tents (disposable, non-biodegradable, prone to breaking, short lifespan) to cabins (long lasting, secure, traditional and built for four seasons). Last summer we built the Adirondack Lean-to, moved one of our previously built cabin frames up to our new campsite, enclosed it and another small cabin for our staff/student use, built the hand washing station and first aid deck as well as cut the frame for Spruce, our first cabin in the series. That was a long summer! Now Spruce is enclosed and awaiting bunk beds, and Aspen is going to quickly follow. Next up is the third cabin, which is Maple, and the beams for her are almost all cut and ready to be assembled.

Our forth cabin, Pine, is awaiting funding before we can get started, but we are hoping this will happen in the coming weeks. We have plans for a small campaign to raise the money soon, (as soon as I can stop framing and write some letters and newsletters and let our awesome community know!) We are just amazed about how much support and love has poured in to help our camp move to a new place that continues to make a difference in the lives of our students, campers and staff.

People, I can't expressed how beautiful it feels to be inside one of these cabins, and how peaceful it is to sit back and look at the handcrafted beams and enjoy being inside this new space. (I'm talking about Spruce now, as Aspen doesn't have roof just yet, as you can see!)

The wood comes from local forests, in most cases less than twenty miles from the camp. That's the wood for the beams, the siding, the roof, the battens and all of the trim. The only wood that is from any significant distance is the plywood for the floors. It feels so good to know that it was done in a sustainable manner, and almost no electricity either. The chisels, slicks, drawknives and other hand tools are almost all heirloom tools that are decades old, worn and used by craftsmen and women before all of this modern technology existed.

The barn has become the cool place to hang out, work on an arrow or bow while we work on the frames. The floor is piled with wood chips from our axes and drawknives, and it feels good to work slowly, carefully, towards the completion of the next frame. It is exciting and calming, healing and energizing, all at the same time. We are careful to stay in a focused, positive frame of mind as we work, and take a break if we get sore or tired, to do something else.

In addition to the frame, we are getting an awesome garden rolling, as well as making buckskin, bark tanning, bows, bark baskets, and helping our heirloom apple orchards along. It is good, honest work, and our caretakers, visitors, students and staff appreciate the feeling of a job well done at the end of the day!

The bottom line is that these cabins have helped us in more ways than just shelter. They have taught us about doing our best work, to focus, to work hard, to pay attention, to keep our work area clean, to talk and work at the same time, to marvel at the gift of wood and metal and hands and vision. We have learned something ancient and new, through this skill that is still valued today. Anyone who has worked on our cabins has stood a little taller through being a part of this mission. It feels good, now and going forward, far into the future. We are building life skills, for ourselves, for our friends and our students, our children and our coming generations.

Building Aspen, I feel like I know a little more about the concept of thinking ahead for seven generations, to insure that the good things that we have in our lives now will be there for our children, and our children's children, for seven generations ahead. You are helping make it happen, and it is real, and it is good. Thank you!

Vision: The story between the lines...

2008-05-24T23:26:00.003-04:00

I have been thinking lately about Hawk Circle in the visionary sense. After all, it's been nineteen years since we started this program rolling, and it is now large and far reaching, running year round and in all sorts of different forms and programs.

Bottom line is, having the vision is the easy part. Seriously. Of course, at the time, it doesn't seem that way. All of the fasting, isolation, pondering, deep thoughts and seeking spiritual guidance, when it is revealed in all its vague glory, it seems awesome and important and amazing. Blessings raining down from heaven. Yeah.

Then, you have to actually do something. You have to build up momentum, inside, and you have to believe. You have to try and fail and try again. You have to solve things, and look at all of the things that you thought would be easy, and realize that you just aren't that good in some areas.

In my journey, I have struggled in many areas. One is in the area of expectation. I expected that the universe would support me in the ways that I was secretly hoping it would. I thought it would be easy, or easier than it actually was. I thought that the way would be opened unto me, blah blah blah. It didn't matter how good the work was that I and my staff did, either. Sometimes it was still just plain hard work with small, incremental rewards that made me think I was just treading water.

My expectations also were blown wide open about myself. I would feel confident, sure and full of faith in my programs, and around my staff, even my family. However, in some cases, I would have my own doubts, my own fears and worries, and I was scared to admit this part of me, or share it with anyone. I thought no one would understand that I had these feelings, and that they would leave if I shared that side of me and the carrying of the vision.

I eventually learned that it is okay to have highs and lows in any given month or year. It is okay to be real, and real friends understand what it means to be honest and open. Even with the inner stuff that isn't as fun and magical as making a fire or turning hides into soft buckskin!

Carrying a vision is intense, especially in the field of wilderness education, because it is a pioneering field. (Pioneering is another word for struggle here, people! Have you ever tried to clear a field out of an acre of forest? Hard work, baby. When the stumps are gone, then you have to try to move the rocks.... Whew.)

On the other hand, I am just incredibly stubborn. I won't give up, and I will continue to pour my effort, thoughts, creativity and resources into bringing the Hawk Circle vision forth into the world.

Why?

Well, that's easy. Because the world, and the peoples of the world, need help. They need the healing, the awakening, the soothing of the soul, and the tempering power of leadership that the wilderness can give. And we can do something that many other agencies and organizations can't. We can create serious change through shepherding youth in the wilderness.

Contact with nature is key to help healing what ails us inside, and we offer ways of connecting that are seamless, almost painless and fear free. You don't have to feel bad about yourself, or the world, either. You just have to be real and be willing to spend some time away from the distractions of our modern world. For a little while, that is.

When I look back at the journey Hawk Circle has taken me, I know that I was held and supported (am still supported) by the universe, and by people who recognize and care about what we are doing. I was supported not in the ways I thought I wanted but in what I needed, which was to get better and figure things out and find ways to make things happen when you have little to work with. Kind of like wilderness survival! The love and support is always there, all around you. It just doesn't always look the way you thought it would. Whatever.

Anyway, I don't know where I am going with this post but I just felt I needed to write about it and it seemed important, so I'm laying it on you. I hope it wasn't a waste of your time.

If you have any thoughts or comments, I would love to hear about them. In the meantime, enjoy the sights, smells and sunshine of spring and get out and walk barefoot in the grass.....

The 2008 Tracking Expedition

2008-05-07T10:46:00.004-04:00

If there is one thing that is hard to teach, it's tracking. I mean, tracking is all about awareness, and it is damn hard to change that! Basically, you are working hard to change old habits of perception. And there is the added helping of belief. If you don't believe you can see tracks in leaves, or moss, or gravel or sand, then you won't. So that part is definitely important.

Fortunately, it is made a lot easier when people actually want to become good trackers, and are willing to work hard to grow. Which was the case in April while we were on the Spring Earth Skills Semester on the Tracking Expedition.

We left the third week of April to head down to Cape Cod, where we stayed for five days and melted our brains in the sands of this amazing place....

Luke Gaillard and I started with everything from footprint drawings and study, to stride and gait patterns and even a little track aging thrown in for fun. We tracked in sand. We tracked in gravel. We tracked in moss. We tracked in pine needles. We even tracked in deep leaf litter, and that was intense and revealing....

One of the highlights of the trip was taking the group blindfolded into the forest, letting them see and find their own trail in dry leaves. (Yes, they did find their way back.)

Another thing that was very successful was moving from area to area and applying the skills learned to the new place, building our awareness and tracking tools with each stop. It was amazing how tired everyone got just looking at tracks and trees and plants and animals and ocean. Nature can sure tire you out!

We followed skunk tracks in the dunes of Nauset Beach, and deer, coyotes, cottontails, fishers and raccoons in several areas. The crow tracks were really neat, and the way that the damp sand and clays showed hair and even finger/paw prints was amazing. There is something powerful about studying animals through their tracks, feeling and seeing the landscape and exploring the terrain through their eyes.... well, words can't express what it was like. Spring was in the air, with branches budding out, flowering and green. I wish I could share our walks and studies with everyone!

The open, fresh clean sand of the wide beaches gave us lots of time to test our skills, making tricky trails where we had to figure out what our companions did in fifteen-twenty steps, which let us ignore the wind and the fading sunlight and our tired legs and just unravel the mystery.

Yeah, it was a good trip. See you next year!?

Have a great spring!

Ricardo

Hawk Circle and Waldorf Education

2008-04-01T23:04:00.001-04:00

Waldorf education has had a huge influence on me. I will come right out and admit it. My mom was brilliant in putting me in the Sacramento Waldorf School in my early grades, then I was part of the Hawthorne Valley Waldorf School in their pioneering years from fourth to eighth grade. We lived in Camphill Village in Copake, NY, too. The philosophy wasn't something I read about, studied and thought about. It was something I lived, for much of my youth.

Even as I studied my wilderness skills throughout the country, I was never far away from Waldorf communities. I worked with Tamara Slayton in Sebastapol, developing Rites of Passage and Coming of Age events for young men and women. I worked for a summer at the Summerfield Waldorf School's summer day camp in Santa Rosa, and worked at the Hawthorne Valley Farm store for years as I developed the Hawk Circle Summer Camp on the land in that community.

I also worked at Hawthorne Valley School cleaning and doing maintenance projects, as well as being part of the Visiting Students Program on the Farm for several years. It was Nancy Dill, the director of that program, who helped me get Hawk Circle started on the old Agawamuck campsite location. Those were pioneering days!

For me, Waldorf education and the community environment shows up all of the time. I sew, draw, build cabins and teach through storytelling, all skills whose foundations were laid in my early classes at those schools. I am comfortable in front of large groups of people, usually! (Thanks, school play!) and I feel good about creating safe spaces where campers and students can grow and thrive, where they have a good balance of challenge and inner connection to nature that is unique to each group.

I guess this post is a small way of saying thank you to all of my teachers, who were patient with me while I knitted, drew with block crayons, painted in dark colors (I'm colorblind!) and goofed my way through eurythmy! I know I wasn't the easiest person to mentor and bring through the process, so I know it was a labor of love. Yeah, the pay probably wasn't that great either! Hopefully, the work I have tried to develop here at Hawk Circle is part of the growing unfoldment of positive leadership, change and transformation that is taking hold in our world today.

This year, we are working with the Minnesota Waldorf School, the Waldorf School of Garden City, the River Valley Waldorf School, the Rudolf Steiner School in NYC, the Aurora Waldorf School and a number of other schools. They come to Hawk Circle with their sixth grade, or seventh or eighth grade, for a week of immersion into nature, as a group. We work with the class teacher to develop a program that is customized to each class's unique needs, modifying native crafts, skills, adventures and experiences that will help ensure an awesome experience.

It is a great feeling to go into those schools and visit their class/parents, (as we do for each group that comes to Hawk Circle). We can really feel the strength, the caring and the dedication that is present, and to see the effect it has on the youth, on everyone, really. It makes me proud to have been and still be a part of this movement, and to support it with our wilderness camps and class trips.

I have a small article coming out in the next issue of LILIPOH, the unofficial publication of the expanding Waldorf influenced universe, as well as mention in a similar Waldorf education meets wilderness education article in Renewal (the official publication of Waldorf!) We look forward to continued collaboration and support in these movements, for the benefit of our children and young adults, and, well, all of us!

Please note: By the way, the pic above is of the October 2007 Baltimore Waldorf Coming of Age program at the Gunpowder Falls State Park in Maryland.

The Blog is Born: Hawk Circle gets interactive!

2008-03-27T11:30:00.003-04:00

Well, we did it. We have a blog online, and you can leave comments about any of the things we have written here. Questions. Comments. Ideas and suggestions. Heck, you can even leave poetry!

But I will be realistic. You probably won't.

I am not thinking negative here, just observing human nature. My nature, even. I read blogs from time to time, and really enjoy them, but rarely ever leave comments. I will read the comments too, but still rarely leave anything behind for the writers/creators to see.

Overall, I understand it, because I have an excuse. We're busy! All of us.

But, if you like anything we put up here, and if it resonates with you, feel free to leave us a comment.

Just in case!

Either way, I am writing to give you insight into who we are, in a way that we can't do on the main website, in our course description or brochures, that gives you a sense of our personalities and our outlook on our work at Hawk Circle. Because there is a lot of variety out there when it comes to Wilderness Schools and their philosophies. Some are pretty radical, by some measures. Others are pretty mainstream. It is good to make sure the course, camp or program you select matches what you are looking for.

Anyway, I will do my best, and you can feel free to e-mail me with any questions, too.

More, much more, is coming soon. Prepare for content, people! This has been a long time coming, and it is going to be fun!

See you soon!

Welcome to Hawk Circle 2.0!

2008-01-12T13:36:00.002-05:00

If you are looking at the pictures over there to the right, you will see some of what I was working on during all of those months that I wasn't writing in my journal!

Yeah, that's right! Cabins! And not just any cabins, either, but beautiful, traditional timberframed cabins....

We cut this frame this summer, before and during the workshop with Craig Boynton, and raised the frame as part of the Sustainability Basecamp experience. (Thanks, guys!) We put the first cabin high in the meadow, because it is the first of four new cabins here at Hawk Circle. They will transform our programs, both in making them more sustainable, more protected and less seasonal. Currently, our tents are made overseas, last a couple of months and then are wrecked, leading to a continuation of the cycle. They don't hold up well in snow, or winds or heavy rains, and they make everyone damp and cramped. I'm not trying to badmouth tenting, because we have been able to have some great camps for 16 years using them and they have been ok.

But the time has come to change this. Time to upgrade. Okay isn't good enough, and we want to move towards something more, something deeper, something awesome....

I think when you see them, you are going to be surprised. Impressed, maybe, or even a little excited! They are so beautiful and strong and solid. They laugh at blizzards. Strong winds are like a backrub to these fellows! You will have to come and visit to find out more!

We are in the process of cutting two more cabins this winter, and fundraising for the last cabin as well. We will raise them this spring, when the snow melts, and get the roof shingles on, then the siding and windows and doors. Jerry and I will be working long hours, and it will be good. Honest work. Fun work. Rewarding work!

The staff are excited, but for different reasons. No more tarp repairs at midnight when the wind has ripped them down in a rainstorm. No more bug netting repairs of zippers by headlamp. No more taking them down, storinng them for next year, and trying to find the right stakes, poles or rainflies! No more leaks that lead to wet clothes, sleeping bags, washing machines, dryers, wasted time, wasted energy..... Can you imagine? They can!

Translation: Better sleep for all. Less time spent on logistics. More time for stories, mentoring, learning, growing. Safer, in the worst thunderstorm. Good Times!

For me, personally, I am living the dream. I see these cabins built and lasting for a hundred years or more. Your grandchildren could sleep in the cabins we have made, with our own hands, some chisels and handsaws, and experience Hawk Circle in ways that will be traditions for us all. We are building a legacy that will change the lives of many.

The pictures tell the story of the cutting, raising, and something about what the campfire circle looks like now.... A new camp firewood shed. A staff Cabin, with new First Aid deck and the Incredible Handwashing Station.....

Ok, I will take a break now, because I think you get it!

I will tell you more about the Fall Earth Skills Semester too, and also a bit about the Winter Intensive, going on now!

Ciao!

Ricardo

Technical Difficulties

2007-08-26T13:33:00.004-04:00

Well, here is how it played out: We went on the Tracking Expedition out in Cape Cod, and it was really successful and amazing. When we returned, I was all set to upload pictures and stories and showcase our new summer workshops and stuff like that. And that is when the trouble started.

We use Adobe Contribute to make changes or additions to our website, and it began to malfunction. I started to find out why, and learned that I needed to get the latest version of the software. Being that we are a non-profit organization, we had to go through the non-profit and educational department of the company, and then order the software, verify that we are indeed who we say we are, and this took several weeks. People, this stuff takes time!

There is installation, connecting to the website securely and lots of other details that are in the way before I could actually sit here and start this update! Whew!

In between all of this ordering, updating and stuff like that, I managed to visit about eight schools, talk to countless parents, visit some colleges, move the cabin from the lower parking area to the new campsite, built an adirondack lean-to cabin, installed our new bridge railing and deck, started getting the camp road intensely upgraded and countless other big and small projects completed....

And guess what? I didn't do it all by myself, either! I had a lot of help from everyone here at Hawk Circle, and lots of volunteers too. Barry, Luke, Matt, Jerry, Amy, Sean, Lyn, Trista, Dave, Matt and Ryan all kicked butt under pressure, and we excelled and it was good. Come to Hawk Circle and see for yourself. Or just look at the pictures!

But, seriously, back to the Tracking Expedition....

It is hard to describe the feeling of leading someone to seeing more in the forest. To become closer to nature, to the animals, the plants and trees, we spent time with these things. We studied the sands, and the way the sands moved and aged. We studied our own footprints, and those of each other. We tracked in deep leaves and pine needles, finding each footprint by sight and then later, by feel. We went out in the night and experienced the ocean in a storm, and found the red fox who had walked there before us. We gathered kinickkinick, sweet fern, reeds for arrows and beautiful stones and shells.

Frankly, I was amazed at the speed with which every student learned and grew. We challenged and tested each other, even as we practiced reading the very emotion of the person we were following. The last few days we tracked deer, rabbits, skunks, coyotes and crows, and followed these extensively, learning so much about track indentification, varied ageing, animal behavior and how they moved and responded to the landscape, weather, presence of people, cars, birds and other animals. We not only learned intensely but we also played intensely, with whateve was available, and it was good. It was healing. It was powerful. I thought of the countless days of my own training under the relentless guidance of my mentor and teacher Tom Brown, Jr, and how he pushed me to be the best I could be. I thought often of my own independent study of months and months, and how much I learned on my own, in the woods, trails, deserts or mountains, with few people to share my discoveries and I thought of how special it was for us all to be together, learning with each other and being able to talk about what we did, how it felt, and the wonder of it all... I feel truly thankful and blessed to have been a part of it all. Luke Gaillard was so great, so detailed and carefully prepared that it made the trip seem effortless. I learned a lot from his teaching and rolemodeling the very best traits and ideals of what a tracker is. If you get a chance to learn and explore the natural world with Luke, don't walk but run to be a part of it! All in all, it was much too short, and we left so grateful for the land, the learning and the use of Luke's family's house, which gave us a special place to renew ourselves between outings... Thank you so much!

I will write more about the last few weeks here, the school groups, the gardens, the new campsites and stuff like that in a few days. Now that my software is up and running, I can write anytime I want! Until then, have a great day!

The Valentine's Day Blizzard

2007-02-14T13:31:00.001-05:00

or How My Week's Plans Changed from Meetings to Digging and Shoveling and Moving Snow

I guess you can't call it a blizzard, really, because technically, a blizzard is a complete white-out, where you cannot see anything except snow, and you have trouble knowing which way is up. We didn't have that in this storm, although it was close, especially as it got dark. However, I wouldn't call this snowstorm 'weak' in any way either! It managed to drop over three and a half feet of snow in one day and caused me and the rest of our community here at Hawk Circle a lot of hard, physical work just to dig out and reopen our road the the outside world.

We woke on Wednesday to about ten inches of fresh powder snow, on top of the foot of powder we already had. It was still snowing hard and it continued all day, and into the evening, when it finally subsided. By that time, we had spent about five or six hours plowing the snow into deep banks on the side of the road, shoveled our paths out of the houses to the woodsheds and roads countless times, trying to keep up with the storm. In the end, we slept and waited for the storm to move on.

On Thursday, Barry Keegan, our awesome Head Instructor, hiked in on snowshoes to see how we were all doing. We began to plow again, and dig and shovel, and probably made it halfway out of the driveway with Sean, myself and Barry alternating and digging out the truck when it got stuck. We would ram the snow into piles and then try to move those piles further off of the road, and every once in a while we would get stuck, the friction of the snow around, under, on top and alongside the truck just too much for the tires to pull us free. Then the digging started, and we would get out, and then start all over again. Progress was measured in feet, and each push brought us a few inches closer to our goal: Route 166!

All in all, we were in good spirits, although we were tired, sore and ready to be out by Friday! We almost ran out of gas, so we had to hike out to the road with gas cans in a sled, by snowshoe, and hike back with full cans so we could keep on plowing and pushing.

We felt free and excited to be out when we finally met Ken Haggerty coming in along the last stretch, and after a few more hours of clean up and scraping, we were done. We laughed at how much snow this storm brought us, and how glad we were that it wasn't rain and floods, and also at how beautiful the land was all covered in fresh powder.

I wanted to get these pictures up just to show you that we survived this massive storm and that we did well, and that it was amazing and awesome and also very tiring! I am still recovering from the full body workout, but it felt good too, to be so fully focused and work so hard. Kind of like doing a summer camp or school group program!

I will write more soon, but just look at the amazing depth of this snowfall and come visit if you have a chance! We would love to see you and take you out skiing or sledding or whatever!

This sure makes my last post seem a bit off, doesn't it? Irony. Well, we got plenty of that around here to go around. Help yourself to a plateful!

Ricardo

A New Year

2007-01-01T13:30:00.001-05:00

There is something weird going on with the weather around here. Plants budding and leafing out. Bats coming out of hibernation to search for non-existent insects. Spring peepers singing for mates. Grouse drumming on fallen logs. No snow. No cold. Southern winds blowing and thick clouds racing like a chinook storm in March.....

Yeah, it is probably just La Niña.

Right.

Well, if it doesn't get cold, this is what it means. More deer and wood ticks. More tent and gypsy moth caterpillars. No soil aeration from freezing and expanding. No seeds awakened by the cold frost. No other pests killed by cold. Expanded deer herds leading to more car accidents. No maple syrup season.

And on and on and on....

So what can we do? I mean, honestly, what can we do about any of this?

We can pray. We can ask for help from something greater, that balance be restored in time for a real (short) winter. We can even ask ourselves what is in our hearts and seek our own personal changes that will help bring about this balance.

Meditate. Take a walk. Talk to the trees and the winds. Ask whoever you talk to when you need strength, to guide us all, and listen carefully for the answer.

It might take some time, but listen anyway. We are all counting on you to share your message and your heart's voice, that we all might learn and find common ground. Perhaps this can be a good thing, this out of balance crazy world, if it can help to bring us closer together.

Good luck and if you feel called, please write to me about anything you find out. My heart is with you and the nature around you. Be well, and may this year bring us closer together, in spirit and in purpose.

Ricardo

The Last Day of Walkabout Camp

2006-09-18T13:28:00.001-04:00

This summer has been intense. Both for me and the camps, as well as our staff and all of the many volunteers and students here this summer. It started off with a great staff training, waaaaay back in June, and then we had the most severe flooding we have ever had here in the county. The water ran over our bridge, and washed out a lot of our road, and we had to do some filling of ditches to make things safe for travel. Our newsletters alerted our friends and supporters about the situation, and we raised over $4,000 in the weeks that followed, to help repair the bridge and road.

We applied to FEMA and the NYSEMO, to see if we can get aid in the form of grants or loans, and are still waiting to hear back about how much we are eligible for. If there is a funding gap, we are hoping to see if there is a way we can seek additional aid. We are currently waiting for estimates from our area contractors, just to have them give us a ball park idea of what kinds of repairs and their costs might be, and with so much damage to other areas in the region, they are taking a long time to get back to us. So we are hopeful it will work out. I will try to keep you posted.

So, anyway, after the flooding, we kept rolling with our camps. We went to a one-week camp format this year, rather than two weeks, which is how we used to do our programs for the last 15 years. I am happy to report that initial responses to this new format were very positive. We were able to actually focus our teaching on specific areas that let to real skills being taught, learned and practiced. Hawk's Hearth, our camp that focused on wilderness cooking, and Yellowknife, which focused on camp skills, were really big hits. The students raved about what they learned, and more importantly, you could see the changes in the students, in how they stood, carried themselves, etc. You can't hide confidence, and it was great to see.

We had so much rain this summer that the wildflowers were especially spectacular. Our gardens flourished, and the kitchen staff made meals the kids seemed to enjoy each day. All in all, it seems, the ingredients for a good summer came together perfectly! We also completed many projects, with Earth Skills Program graduate Ryan Smith creating a new stone causeway for our trail up to camp, to alleviate the perpetual muddy path and bridge. We had many staff and caretaker helpers complete the Chesapeake Deck project, which was promptly enjoyed by all by the time it was operational. Volunteers Schuyler Senft-Grupp, Justin Katsuki, and Ryan Smith helped get the frame done, and Walt Gigandet did much of the construction for the frame and deck. Rebecca Schinazi, Josh Roberts, Eli Martz, Abigail Houghton, Tim Brown and Barry Keegan helped with the decking and then the white ash railing, which is beautiful and sturdy, and keeping with our wilderness theme! Many caretakers helped with other aspects of the deck and construction, including the stone ramp and courtyard in front of the deck, and Tim Manney helped with lots of stone work around our barns and camp. We really appreciate the work you all did, and for all of the supporters who donated to the Deck Fund in so many ways, to help it to happen. Thank you.

I have photos that I want to post, but I don't have my camera ready to download them, so I will put them up next time, but soon I will be posting many things all through the website, and I will let you know when I send out our e-Newsletter. If you want to get it, just e-mail me and I will sign you up, or you can click on the menu to the left and sign yourself up. It is easy to do, costs nothing, and you can get off the list at any time. Best of all, it is full of camp and program news, articles, stories and community learning, as well as updates and even a little poetry if we get the space and time. So don't miss it!

Have a great last week of summer, and we will hope to see you soon.....

Ricardo

A short recount of The Beginning of Hawk Circle

2006-09-03T13:28:00.001-04:00

Before the camp was born, there was a vision quest.

Four days in the wilderness, without food, with just enough water, and lots of deep meditation and introspection. I was pretty young, but asking for the universal life force to give me an insight into the future, into my purpose for being here on this earth at this particular time.

It was spring time, but the first couple of days were rainy and very cold. The nights were long, sitting, sleeping little, and waiting for dawn. I unraveled my life and felt Spirit waiting around, as if testing me to see if I was ready for what was to be revealed.

What I saw, felt and understood, was a vision of a future where the peoples of the earth were in massive confusion, pain, suffering and change. I didn't see anything specific, but storms, disruption of our social world and daily lives was prominent. There was fighting, and fear in everyone, and many people were lost, in both a real and a spiritual sense. This vision was powerful, intense and scary to me, just 21 at the time, because it appeared so much larger than my own experience and skill to handle.

I saw many other things in my quest, that helped guide me to the work you all are familiar with in our programs. But it was this overriding vision that started me in this life. It was still years away from the time in which I would run my first camp, but my training had begun. I took courses in wilderness survival, wild foods, native skills and crafts and earth philosophy.

The name of our camp and our organization, Hawk Circle, comes from several sources. The influence of William Ackerman, the guitarist who founded Windham Hill Music, was with me as I wandered the coastal mountains of Central California was considerable. Hawk Circle was the name of a composition that he wrote that captures not just the beauty and power of a hawk in flight, but also the depth of it's soul as a predator, as the keeper of balance.

Another source was the sheer volume of hawks that made themselves known to me in the first few years of my training. I saw hawks in trees, in deep blue skies, in thorny brush and hovering over grassy meadows. I learned many things about hawks in those days, mostly from being around them, feeling them looking at me, and seeing their beautiful yet terrible eyes. I waited while they waited, hunting and sitting in trees over grasses, and we shared something that I can't describe.

In the days the followed, I saw how the circling flight of the hawk allowed it to spiral up a column of warm air, called an updraft, and with each pass, rise higher and higher. When it was high enough, the hawk would fly in any direction it pleased, and it could use very little effort, just gliding easily. No flapping.

I thought about how our camp, our programs, were like the updraft that a hawk needed to grow and ascend into the sky, with each skill learned, each expansive experience pushing awareness higher, until the young 'hawk' could fly anywhere it needed to go.

It was the right image, concept, philosophy, for our work. The name "Hawk Circle" has passed muster, for 17 years. And the journey continues......

St. Patrick's Day

2006-03-17T13:27:00.001-05:00

It has been a while since I last wrote, and much has happened! I spent a few days leading a winter survival intensive up in the Sierra Nevada mountains near Tahoe in February, and we made igloos, snow caves, fires in the snow and great survival kits.... The snow pack was about 5 or 6 feet thick, which is the most snow I have seen all winter. Here in Cherry Valley, it has been pretty much a warm winter. The best thing about the Tahoe area was that it was in the 50-60ºF temperature range during the day, and at night in the 20s, so it was just about perfect for running our class!

I have spent much of the last few weeks, after getting back from California, writing, doing the layout and graphic design for some new brochures, print ads and planning programs for the upcoming year. We have been working on all kinds of new programs, including our Earth Shelters and Historical Replicas, which is really exciting for us. The Algonkian Wigwams and Longhouses are just awesome, and I really am excited that we can offer these programs to other educational centers, museums or schools. Barry is also completing work on a seriously big Bark House over in Cooperstown, and the students here are learning a ton about making long term earth shelters.

We are doing a little maple sugaring here at Hawk Circle, as well as helping with native American traditional sugaring off demonstrations for the Farmer's Museum in Cooperstown. It is great to show so many people the way natives did rockboiling, or used birch bark containers and clay pottery to boil down the sap. Barry has a lot of birchbark buckets for sap too, which are pretty cool.

Summer is coming and is also in the front of my mind. I am hiring staff, making plans for each program, and Luke has been doing alot of 'systems planning' for each part of our program here, with Trist's help too. This is going to help with the flow of each program, reducing energy on the so called 'bottleneck or redundant' areas and help us put more and better energy into the students/kids, too. Examining these systems, from how chores are done, to how our kitchen runs, all add up to being conscious of our entire organization, and move from an "Ad Hoc" style of operation, to a system that is actually based on strong direction and organization. I cringe when I think of how much time, effort and energy has been spent on problem solving the same areas, by so many staff! It seems like a small thing, each system, but really, it is a vital aspect of our growth and evolution.

Well, I have to get back to work here, but it is good to write and post these new pictures. Please feel free to call or write with any questions, if you have the time. It will let me know someone is actually reading this! I love to connect with people who love wilderness skills and nature and community.

Be well!

Ricardo

February Thaw

2006-02-10T13:26:00.001-05:00

Alright, I don't have time to put more photos up on this entry, but I wanted to write a quick note before I head up to Tahoe in California for a winter survival skills class up there I am leading. I am almost finished packing for the trip, and packing always make me excited for the adventure! Make no mistake, it does come down to work, and making sure that everyone really learns to take care of their business when it comes to survival in the wilderness!

I am proud of my winter intensive students, who, last month, made it through their trek,despite heavy rains in January. This would have broken the spirit of lesser students, because it can be so miserable and uncomfortable! But they found a way to enjoy it and stay positive and upbeat. All of these are important keys to survival, too.

I have been changing my whole approach and feeling about my work here as the executive director and leader of Hawk Circle. I just feel very strange, at times, even a bit detached and distant, to the idea of the whole thing. This isn't to say I am any less passionate about my work here and my co-workers and our community. Far from it! But I guess I am changing the internal reasons that I originally had for starting this place, and for getting us to this point. And I think that this has been needing to happen in order for us to grow and take the next step in our development as an organization.

I know that we needed to change, too, because I have been needing to let go of trying to do everything here. In the past week, I have worked on a postcard to be mailed to our entire mailing list, worked with a media planner, made some small changes to our website, helped Luke with developing the paperwork for this summer's campers, finished a grant proposal for a new database, completed our second E-newsletter and mailed it to everyone on our list, as well as many other details, letters, phone calls and other meetings. Whew! It makes me tired just thinking about it! It has been so good having Barry and Luke here to help me in this transition, and all of the students who are living here and practicing skills and keeping things light and fun.

I will write more and let you know how the program went up in Tahoe. The mountains are calling me, and it will be good to visit my home state, too, just for a little while. Mmmm, I can almost taste the enchiladas! Yeah, baby!

Ricardo

Winter Earth Skills Intensive

2006-01-09T13:25:00.000-05:00

This past week, we started a new year, and a new Winter Earth Skills Intensive. This season, we are preparing students for a four day winter expedition where students will make their own snow shelters, build fires with woods gathered in the cold, make grass mats, and use snow shovels carved from basswood. We started our course with a 122 question Winter Earth Skills Comprehension Test, which definitely set the stage for the type of program we are leading, and it is really good. We are also drying meat (venison) to be used on the trek, over a fire, the traditional way. We are making braided rawhide rope, for hauling gear, firewood and many other camp uses, and practicing our outdoor cooking skills, such as rock boiling, using bark containers and spit cooking. More than anything, so far, it has been a lot of hard work and good learning happening too.

Personally, I love this time of year, because the weather can be amazingly warm, and nice to be out without a million layers, and the tracking has been excellent. The students are eager to learn everything they can about this time of year, and when we covered hazards and winter related first aid, we had a great time. I think there is a magic to knowing that you have to sleep out in a shelter you make, even in subzero temps (which we haven't had yet, in 2006 anyway), and that seems to motivate everyone to work just a little bit harder in practicing and getting crafts done so we will be ready for the campout.

I tasted some wild grapes that were still on the vine the other day, when the North Wind students were here, and they were really sweet and good, once you spit out the seeds. We had a lot of fun in that camp, especially roasting chestnuts on the fire, tracking all kinds of animals and the snowball fights.....

This is a busy time of year for me, actually, because there is a lot of planning, organizing and thinking about the coming year. I have been updating the website, as you can see, as well as working on an e-mail newsletter, which should be out shortly. I have way too much to do, but I still try to find the time to flesh the occasional deer hide, get myself out in the fresh snow, fill the birdfeeders, bring in some firewood and dream about summer!

My favorite basketball team, the Kings, aren't doing too well this season, and I have been thinking about why teams (like organizations) do well, and why they don't. I have been thinking about leadership, and all of the different styles and structures of organizations that enhance or detract from good leadership. I have been thinking about our mission here at Hawk Circle, and what I would say if I had to distill our work down to a one-line essence of Hawk Circle. Man, that is a lot of thinking!

It has been really fun working with Luke Gaillard, Barry Keegan, Ryan Smith and all of the other staff and students that helped us throughout the fall. We got an amazing amount of work done, good crafts and skills taught, and we had a lot of fun doing it too. I am so grateful to have Barry and Luke here full time, helping me move forward in so many projects and areas that have needed attention for a very long time.... I am finally getting some time to write, too, which is exciting. I will talk more about that when I get a few more chapters done!

More on our winter adventures, as well as our upcoming Ice Fishing trip on Indian Lake, in the Adirondacks, coming soon!

Ricardo

Southern Man

2005-10-25T13:24:00.000-04:00

Well, Ariel Schloss, Ryan Smith and I are at Warren Wilson College, here in Asheville, North Carolina. Walking around the campus, we have been warmly greeted by students, and welcomed by Tim Manney and Rachel Williamson. Danielle Emmett, a Hawk Circle Alumni from several years back, is a student here and it is so nice to reconnect and see how she has grown.

Being here, though, brings to the forefront my feelings for Austin Wright, who was a student here until his passing earlier this spring. His presence is strong and I feel more connected with him and his life through being here and seeing the trees, land, mountains and spaces that he loved. I usually only saw him at Hawk Circle, during our Earth Skills Semester or the summer camp programs, and it is a good feeling to be in one of the environments he loved.

We are staying in the Eco-Dorm, which is an awesome building that uses recycled rain water for toilets, solar energy, edible landscaping and so many other earth friendly technologies. It is truly a gift to be able to stay here and experience the technology first hand, rather than through articles in Mother Earth News or various books on Natural Building, etc.

We are here to connect with people/students and talk about the work Hawk Circle is doing in the areas of wilderness skills, mentoring, awareness, personal growth and native arts, so we are busy talking with everyone and sharing stories. Meeting people can be very tiring!

We have to go do a presentation by the cafe, so I will write more about our trip later!

Have a good week, y'all!

Ricardo

The Hunter's Moon

2005-10-10T13:23:00.000-04:00

I took a walk yesterday afternoon, and before I had gone fifty yards from our house, saw two beautiful, healthy whitetail deer. There was a light misty rain falling, which brought out the colors of the maples, cherry, sumac and the viburnum, and the image of the deer surrounded by the colors and shrouded mist was exquisite. Such is the situation with autumn, here at Hawk Circle!

This fall, our students have been learning some excellent fire skills, including making hand drill fires, fires in the rain, fires with rock tools, cooking fires and bow and drill fire making with naturally gathered woods. There is so much more to know and to do, but it is great to have the time for all of the students to practice these skills, not once or twice, but daily, during our morning fire sessions.

We have also made a great stacked debris wall shelter, and an awesome camp, which will be fun to use later this fall, when the snow flies. We are all excited to see how well it works to hold the heat and provide a home for us in the wilderness. The shelter is partially underneath a couple of large white pines, and the carpet of falling needles are so soft and colorful that we all just stop and stare from time to time. It is a true gift.

Many of our students and staff this year are practicing their bow making, arrow making, shooting and camoflage in preparation for bow hunting for deer. This has been a powerful process, with lots of intensive learning and commitment required. The Hunter's Safety Class. The Bowhunter's Safety Class. The many miscellaneous expenses (targets, broadheads, clothing, gear). And above all, the time needed to honor the deer, and honor the hunt. We are planning a Hunter's Lodge, with games, skills and a sweatlodge ceremony that will help us be ready physically, spiritually, emotionally and mentally.

I find that there is so much thankfulness among our community here, just for the gift of being able to focus on these skills and that they are supported by so many people in our community. Everyone has approached the idea of taking a life with such concern, care, heartfelt emotion and respect, that we have all grown as a result, without even getting out in the field and hunting yet. It is truly a gift, to be able to share this in a society that for the most part, is reluctant to talk about or even see death. There is much healing and inner growth weaving among us all, here, under the mountain of blazing trees.

Have a great fall, everyone, and be well.

Ricardo

Indian Summer, Adirondack Dreams

2005-08-30T13:22:00.000-04:00

Well, I have to say first off that I never expected that life would be so busy that I wouldn't have time to update this journal since March! Wow! That pretty much tells me what kind of a busy spring/summer I have been having this year.

I will gather no moss this season.

(Unless it's sphagnum moss, which can be used for many different wilderness living needs! )

I just got back from the Adirondack Expedition, where we ventured into the Pharoah Lake Wilderness Area, and spent our days climbing peaks, swimming in crystal clear lakes, hiking through hemlock groves, listening to the calls of the loons and making great food. I was sick for about two of the days in the middle, but it was nothing serious, maybe just a sample of the flu that then morphed into a cold, so I was ok.

Being in this wilderness area was very intense for me, in several ways. One was the intense feeling of silence, of quiet and being surrounded by nature sounds, all day, all night. Especially at night, as the stars were reflected all crazy and wild, in the mirror of the lake, I just started to feel like I was losing the grip of human form. The owls call seemed to come from a deep place inside of me, and I could feel the wind in the treetops in the ends of my fingers.

The other way that the wilderness affected me was found in watching our group. Watching how each person changed each day, slowly, methodically, moment by moment, dropping away cares and worries and opening towards the beauty that surrounded them constantly. Of course, if you were not watching for it, you would probably not see it right away, because we had our share of jokes, bad jokes, constant chatter and playful banter that permeated our daily interactions at times. The change was there, and our last day of hiking out was one of power, sweat, beauty and closeness to each other and nature.

° * ° * ° * ° * ° * °

There is so much more to talk about, with the summer, my trips to San Diego, CA and Baltimore, MD as well as all of the camps and programs.... I just don't know where to start. I am glad to be heading into the fall season, and I know we must have done something right this year, becase we are all so tired! The Fall Instructor Training Program Semester is starting in a few weeks, and there are so many things to wrap up and get ready that I know there is no real rest in sight. But it is good work we are doing here, and I am glad we can do our part to bring nature and leadership opportunities to all these children.

Have a great fall!

Ricardo

A Glimmer of Spring

2005-03-31T13:21:00.000-05:00

Our Instructor Training Program Spring Semester just started this week, and we are already deep into several projects. We have each person doing two-three hides for making buckskin, and they are all moving along nicely. We are making bone hide scrapers, too, which is fun and brings us a little closer to doing it in nature, rather than relying solely on steel.

I am enjoying this group because I am able to teach them more from a native approach, more free-form and less of the structured college style classes. There is a mix of conversation, stories, teachings, fun, and appreciation for the returning birds, as we all worked together in and around the barn. It is both relaxing and hard work at the same time.

I am also excited because I am taking our group out to go trout fishing on opening day. We don't usually do any hunting or fishing unless it is primitive style, but when I realized how many of the students didn't know how to fish with modern style, it looked like a good opportunity to have a field trip to some new areas, explore the trees and see if we can find some fresh trout! I think it will be a fun learning experience that can help us all be better fishers in the long run. Besides, how often do you get to fish the East Branch of the Delaware River? Any respectable fly fishermen know what an honor is get to fish these world class waters, so tomorrow should be an experience we can all remember. I just hope no one falls in! That water is cold!

We are getting ready for a survival trek which will be coming in a few weeks. There are lots of skills to practice, learn and develop, and many of our students are fairly experienced so we should be able to enter the woods with just the clothes on our backs and be able to survive for five to seven days, no problem! (We always bring back-up gear for safety and emergencies, but that is a given.) I am excited about this and I think these students will do a lot better than they expect out there. The earth will help us and provide for us, if we take the time to listen and go with the flow......

I have to get to class, but check back soon to find out how we did on our buckskin and fishing! Have a great Spring!

Ricardo