My Side Of The Mountain Book
When I was 10, I read the My Side of the Mountain book written by E. P. Dutton. It was about a boy living by himself off the land. I was so excited about the whole concept of it, I had my Dad read the book. Among the many things my dad was good at, he knew all about hunting, trapping, fishing and foraging. We had a fairly big woods on our farm, and after he read the book, I told him I wanted to do that in our woods.
I think he agreed mostly because he thought I'd get sick of it really quick. But the more he taught me the more interested i got. Before it was all over, my dad made sure i knew how to forage every thing edible in our woods. How to use what wasn't edible to build a shelter, some tools, etc. We did build a small log cabin that we would go camping in. He taught me how to hunt, fish and trap as well as how to process it and prepare pelts.
After I could identify everything in our woods, he took me to our distant relative's woods about 40 miles away and showed me even more plants I could use. Some of the plants I remember seeing in My Side of the Mountain movie.
I do not enjoy hunting and trapping, but i know how. If i need it, i have that knowledge along with a knowledge of an almost endless free food supply. We went to the library together and got books and taught each other how to weave willow baskets, we made green birch furniture, etc.
My dad gave me an amazing gift to learn how to live with nothing so I could appreciate when I had something. Even into adulthood he was teaching me about all the things around me that were free in nature. You just have to be able to see them. Dad used to laugh and tell people I could walk out into the woods and get lost, by the time they found me, I'd have built a house and would be fat and sassy
As of lately, I have been thinking a lot about those lessons since things have been so hard this year for everyone. Everyone is worried about money and what tomorrow will bring. But there's so much out there if you know where to look and what to do with it. Personally I think every school should teach these kinds of valuable life skills to every child that passes through their doors.
Comments
That sound pretty much interesting. I wonder where to buy that book for me to read. One day on the past, I was a kid too and I collected a lot of stories overtime.
That is so good to know, I guess it can be considered as the live survival kit out on the woods, just in the case of the life out there at big cities break and there isn't anymore food to feed millions of hungry and scared humans. It is always great to know, that's a gift, my friend.