How Wilderness Skills Reconnect Families

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....

Meet Aspen, Our Newest Camp Cabin Frame

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!

Barry Keegan champhers the edge of the top
plate beam in the Hawk Circle Barn

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.

Tim Brown checks the sill beams for level.

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.

Rick adjusts the stone base of the
cabin frame.

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!)

Raising the second bent!

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.

Raising the top plate beam.

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.

Fitting the second plate beam onto the posts.

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!

Noah guides the plate into the
post mortise, while Barry fits
the brace into the pocket.

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.

The Aspen Frame, finished and fully
raised.   A good day's work!

The interior, after installing the bunk beds.

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!