Tuesday afternoon while out wandering the landscape, bow in hand, Grey sees a bear. We follow him down the road a couple hours later to look at the tracks. Bears have opposite feet--their big toes are on the outside of the foot. This fascinates me. I plot my diagonal summer camp walking plans. Are my bare feet big enough to look like bear feet? Worth a try.
Read MoreWe discuss why I think the bird might have been startled. We consider the behavior of other birds we have seen that morning; how they pop up from the ground and land on a tree limb above us, but do not flee before us as we walk. They are used to people in this area. They do not seem scared of us, just cautious. I mention that my interpretation has much of myself in it. This is new; this kind of tracking is deep. Much deeper than counting toes and looking for claw marks. Much has changed since September.
Read MoreMy spindle goes flying out in a random direction and, in the resulting loss of leverage, I crack myself in the head with the stick I'm holding in my left hand. I sit down with a thump, eyes watering, glasses akimbo. Smoke pours off my spindle and board, sweat drips down the small of my back, but as of yet--no coal.
"It's just so easy, isn't it? Like all the skills we've learned this year." Cameron smirks a little at me, his own lack of success evident as he packs up his bow-drill kit, minus a coal. Cameron knows this magic, though. He earned himself a couple of coals the week before. Still, this work is humbling. He might have turned the trick once or twice, but he hasn't achieved consistency--yet.
Photo taken by See at Oaks Bottom.
Crunch. Like cold, broken glass. We trod after one another, taking turns in the lead for two miles, gazes cast into the snow a few feet in front of us, following a coyote's trail. The coyote meets with others, they trot along side each other, cross paths, stop, dig under a log. I try to picture how they were moving in the early, pre-dawn light. Noses to the wind, following that insatiable call of hunger that rules all the beings of this frozen land.
Photos by Reverend Blue Sky (Noel Tendick).
Read MoreI've always wanted to develop the ability to walk around barefoot, regardless of surface. Through habit and necessity my barefoot periods are usually limited to brief post-shower stints and strictly kept indoors.
Photo taken by Reverend Blue Sky (Noel Tendick) at Eel Creek along the Oregon Coast.
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