I would like to meet a nomadic rural opportunist. My girlfriend believes that there are bums who live in woods, mountain-men, entirely nomadic, who dwell in forests of the North Eastern United States. I have my doubts. Such a person would be survival guru. A sustainable diet would be very tricky in the winter without caching food from the summer and smoking venison. Both these activities hold a person to a spot. What do you think? Are there people who can manage cross-country winter travel without the burden of lugging provisions? Are there mountain-men out there? Is such a lifestyle admirable?
There are “mountain men” and women still out there. Not many because our world culture has killed, assimilated, and or thrown them onto reservations. I’ve been called a “mountain man” I’ve been called a lot of names such as indian, engene, action figure legs, buff, black, white, mixed, cave man, skinny, asshole, nomad, beautiful, fast runner, and the list goes…they’re just all stereotypical names I get from the unadvised, smart, and rude mother fuckers. I’m just human, everything I eat and absorb…that’s about it all I think. Nomadic people can trade they don’t have to carry anything with them at all. The land provides everything and humans are equally part of the land as snakes, grasses, venison and so on. So a nomad can get offerings from trees and offering from people but they have to continue to move to the places that produce offerings that will sustain their way. If a nomad is offered to hunt in the territory of some other human they will take the offering unless something more inviting arises.
I guess my idea of a mountain man is someone who has divorced civilization AND society. No handouts. Your stereotypical woodland recluse dressed in buckskins and a raccoon hat. Could be a man, could be a woman.
You’ve painted a nice picture of the circle of life, and I won’t argue that we have been provided for. But I don’t see my human neighbors participating. I guess you do and thats your point. And I see your point about how natural beauty exists in and amongst civilization, and what kind of a sane opportunist would head for the hills.
Thing is, most humans in our part of the world have no realized relationship with the the snake or venison. For most its like this: the sun provides for the solar and fossil energy that grows the hybrid corn that feeds the farm animals and is refined into various industrial commodities that make the bulk of the ‘food’ ingredients and additives. You could thank the earth. But don’t forget to give copyrighted hybrid corn and synthetic fertilizer their due credit.
sorry to rant, no offense meant
Are you familiar with the Rainbows?
There’s thousands of people living off the fat of the land. They raom the woods, gather, and do things like post on this Web site. They dumpster dive, they steal because they ahve no sense of ownership, and they do it all for each other, not as lone gunmen in the woods.
Do they still count?
You can meet them:
I am one of them. I have no home, but I wonder in the winter between the people I know. This weekend is the beginning of spring, the begging of the end of my hibernation, I will link to my blog here so you can see what I’m up to. Look for my first post on Monday. Soon, I’ll be upgrading to video and doing an entire series of how what’s to eat in mother nature as the seasons cycle.
I try to ignore rant. No offence taken as far as I’m concern. I must add that the history of “most” isn’t the history and reality of all. If everybody in your culture jumps off a bridge will you go too? I don’t get stuck on what “it’s like for most” anymore, because I know. I’m aware of my cultural background basic framework now that I’ve read Daniel Quinn’s books and have gone knowlingly and volunteerily beyond. I know what it used to be like for me when I was caught up with “what it’s like for most”; back then I was being raised to cause extinction to the human species and aswell as countless other species and inanimates . What matters to me is what I believe, diversity and walking away step-by-step my way, which is very similar to some other ways but similarities aren’t the actually real thing…that’s why we say “my way”, “your way”, and “our way”.
I (probably) saved some rainbows lives once. They were some teenagers who had hitchiked from Denver up into the mountains. Somewhere the rainbows were having a gathering and these guys were taking and old wagon trail/ mountain pass in an attempt to get there. Only supped up jeeps and foot travel on that trail now, high elevation, breaks the tree line, very pretty. Problem is they had on t-shirts, didn’t realize how cold it would be in the mountains. When I found them they were shaking so bad they couldn’t light a cigarette, and one of them had stopped shaking and turned a funny color. I gave them the 5 military surplus wool blankets I had in my truck, some tinder, and steered them towards a wooded wind break where they could spend the night. They gave me some pills and we parted ways.
Looking forward to your videos Tony Z
Keeping it real. Awesome story, Observed. Yeah and I also look forward to the movie(s) or just about anything that comes from rewild.
no video yet, but some digital photos anyway…
learned something new yesterday. you can use crocus pistils as saffron…