Another 24 hours after reading your journal entries. Cold wind blows a small electric heater glows. I stepped outside to feel the cool chill under gray clouds. Gathered twigs for fire starters. Be prepared for day it rains.
Got to thing about fire sticks, walking sticks, habit sticks and rennet talking stick. When you are passed this stick a a council only you have the honor to speak. No interruptions. Like my I phone, my fingers speak only to you. But we know others will see what we say.
Years ago I made taking sticks. Carved in peeled wood. Pictographs a snake. A dog. A stream. Group of friends. Reminders of times gone by. Heirlooms you might say. The time the dog saw a rattlesnake by a water hole. The group never saw the snake but the dog warned us to stay away. As we retreated, then we head the rattles . A warning worthy of an imprint on a talking stick. I agree wool is best to keep you warm. Layers of clothing. Wool hat, socks. Down jacket is warm, but worthless if Wei.
Your notes of being sick. That’s when you made prearrangements to have firewood be prepared. Buy the fire went out . Once coal kept in a container could be done to keep fire alive. Guess you had matches or steel and flint? Do you remember Amado? A dried mushroom used by ancient people to carry fire. Grew on trees .
Did I ask you about creating soot or oil from birch tho make repellent. Did you use many candles? Enlighten me.
I love carving sticks. Or carving anything from wood (or bone or antler or stone, for that matter, I've carved them too). When I went back to live in my shelter the following fall, I carved my walking staff with a series of faces, each looking out in a different direction. I love the idea of keeping memories on sticks the way you describe, I think I shall have to have a go at that, too.
Living in the Alpes at the moment means I have a down jacket, which I never bothered with in Scotland because, as you say, it is useless when wet--and it's always wet there! My sleeping bag was down, however, but I could protect that much better.
I did have matches, and a flint and steel, as well as a small lighter. I generally like to carry lots of different ways to start a fire and, although I love using traditional methods, the simplicity and speed of modern materials is well worth it. I've yet to actually make amadou, but I want to--it's on the list of things I'd like to do and teach to my daughter, We have several of the mushrooms growing near us--this was a great year for fungi, although I couldn't find everything I wanted to, I'm still happy with the harvests. Some medicinal (turkey tail, in particular), many edible.
I've used birch bark to make oil before, but not for a while. Again, this is something I am planning on teaching Ailsa, and have a few old tin cans ready to help in the process (as well as a lot of birch bark!).
As far as candles goes, I think I had a dozen that time, using them sparingly, but really enjoying their warm light. I now have a small candle lantern which I love, it reflects more light, burns for much longer, and isn't too heavy to carry, but I still often carry normal household candles too.
Many thanks for your comment, I really love to read what you have to share and ask--I'm also grateful that you know I will respond, but sometimes it just takes a bit longer than I'd like!
Otezi man’s remains were found on alpine slopes years ago. Amado was found largest mushrooms that grew on trees trunks were dried and painted on by grandfather. Still 75 years later the red barn/ snow scene still vibrant. Friend and I carved initials in one. The bioluminescent mushrooms 🍄 kept up light for a few days.
My daughter Erin I’ve taught her create ways, especially wild foods.
So the birch bark you put in tin cans and burn to get oil?
The South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, which is dedicated to Ötzi and the world he lived in, isn’t that far from us, just eight hours drive due east, through Turin and MIlan and onwards. It would make an excellent stop on a campervan adventure! I remember the excitement when he was discovered, and writing essays about him at university (my degree was Archaeology and Prehistory). I wonder if there are other such amazing things hidden in these mountains, ready to appear thanks to the warming climate—I know there is an excellent project in the mountains and glaciers of Norway, where they’ve recovered all manner of fascinating finds found thanks to the melting ice.
I’ve never seen bioluminescent mushrooms—insects, yes, and I love them, but never fungi. The same with the sea, that is a truly magical thing to witness, when it glows in the dark it is nothing short of astonishing.
I think teaching people the wonders of wild food is something more people should do—then, perhaps, there would be more stewards of the nature. Once we can attach a value to a thing it becomes more important to protect it, which is a big problem with nature conservation, people look at it in too abstract a manner.
As for birch oil yes, that’s more or less it—you take one smaller can and one larger, the smaller you bury in the area you are going to make your fire, making sure it is well sealed beneath the larger can, which has a hole in its base, then stuff the larger can with birch bark, light it and add a lid, also with holes in it to enable the gas to escape, then you light a fire around it to aid in the production. It is a remarkable substance, so useful and important.
Thanks for birch oil art process. I will try with a neighbor’s dying tree. Otezi ‘s remains documented in National Geographic Magazine when first found. I was so fascinated. Yes melting glaciers ice has revealed mountain climbers on Mt Everest. Much more can be found in dried up lakes. Time to do historical research. There are cooler nights. I gathered some wood, but restrictions prevent from lighting a fire. I am just waiting for rain. A fireplace hearth and a glass of warm mead sounds good for the holidays. The homey wine is getting harder to find. Last few years sold out early and less Bees 🐝 production. Maybe you can find medlars a fruit like and apple, very hard. You need to let it get soft. The it has a cinnamon flavor and will cheese goes great. Old English delights. Maybe even Viking origin.
Yes! There are definitely medlars in this corner of the world, but I've yet to collect any. It is concerning what you say about the mead and bees--they are such a good barometer of ecosystem health. Here, it is almost impossible to walk anywhere without bees, whether from farmed hives, or wild. I think we are very lucky, certainly compared to the UK, where I think I saw two bees over a two week visit this year. Same with butterflies. The mountains and valleys offer a lot of variety and food, across altitude as well as laterally, but many plants are moving higher and higher and, soon, some will have nowhere left to go. So it is with the blueberry/myrtille spot Aurélie's family have gathered from for decades, it is moving up and up, and the harvest is inconsistent.
These are definitely interesting times we live in.
Fascinating stuff, Alex … tough to endure at the time with the illness making everyday tasks so difficult. I admire the rhythm you worked to, but as you say, stripping life down to a series of essentials helps. Fire, water, shelter. Stripped back.
Love the way you bring the pieces to life with contemporary reflections that build on the experienced moments captured in a journal, or in the photos you took. I wonder how others - Lydia, maybe - reflect on that time and how they felt, especially when times were tough - illness, weather etc.
Anyhoo, I’m blethering. Just a note to say I’m really enjoying these insights. Great storytelling. A mighty impressive undertaking. Cool how it has shaped who you are in the here and now. I tend to imagine the future into being … occasionally I write it down but mostly I sense the direction I want to go in and put plans in place to get there … even being here in France can be tracked back to a piece I wrote that imagined ‘Feasts and Fables, the place’. Have a great weekend.
That's actually a super idea too, about how others might reflect on that time, Lydia is certainly the best option. (Don't think we can @ tag in comments? Or maybe just me! I'll have to ask her another way!)
I believe you need to be open to a different mindset than that which we're usually told to follow, in order to do as you say, to visualise and imagine a change, a path to follow. Too often, I find, people's thoughts are far too distracted by modern life to do this and, as such, they miss out on a myriad of possibilities. The antithesis of this is the idea of 'manifesting', when that solely means thinking about thing until it happens, passively.
Many thanks for this, and all your encouragement, I greatly appreciate it.
Another 24 hours after reading your journal entries. Cold wind blows a small electric heater glows. I stepped outside to feel the cool chill under gray clouds. Gathered twigs for fire starters. Be prepared for day it rains.
Got to thing about fire sticks, walking sticks, habit sticks and rennet talking stick. When you are passed this stick a a council only you have the honor to speak. No interruptions. Like my I phone, my fingers speak only to you. But we know others will see what we say.
Years ago I made taking sticks. Carved in peeled wood. Pictographs a snake. A dog. A stream. Group of friends. Reminders of times gone by. Heirlooms you might say. The time the dog saw a rattlesnake by a water hole. The group never saw the snake but the dog warned us to stay away. As we retreated, then we head the rattles . A warning worthy of an imprint on a talking stick. I agree wool is best to keep you warm. Layers of clothing. Wool hat, socks. Down jacket is warm, but worthless if Wei.
Your notes of being sick. That’s when you made prearrangements to have firewood be prepared. Buy the fire went out . Once coal kept in a container could be done to keep fire alive. Guess you had matches or steel and flint? Do you remember Amado? A dried mushroom used by ancient people to carry fire. Grew on trees .
Did I ask you about creating soot or oil from birch tho make repellent. Did you use many candles? Enlighten me.
I love carving sticks. Or carving anything from wood (or bone or antler or stone, for that matter, I've carved them too). When I went back to live in my shelter the following fall, I carved my walking staff with a series of faces, each looking out in a different direction. I love the idea of keeping memories on sticks the way you describe, I think I shall have to have a go at that, too.
Living in the Alpes at the moment means I have a down jacket, which I never bothered with in Scotland because, as you say, it is useless when wet--and it's always wet there! My sleeping bag was down, however, but I could protect that much better.
I did have matches, and a flint and steel, as well as a small lighter. I generally like to carry lots of different ways to start a fire and, although I love using traditional methods, the simplicity and speed of modern materials is well worth it. I've yet to actually make amadou, but I want to--it's on the list of things I'd like to do and teach to my daughter, We have several of the mushrooms growing near us--this was a great year for fungi, although I couldn't find everything I wanted to, I'm still happy with the harvests. Some medicinal (turkey tail, in particular), many edible.
I've used birch bark to make oil before, but not for a while. Again, this is something I am planning on teaching Ailsa, and have a few old tin cans ready to help in the process (as well as a lot of birch bark!).
As far as candles goes, I think I had a dozen that time, using them sparingly, but really enjoying their warm light. I now have a small candle lantern which I love, it reflects more light, burns for much longer, and isn't too heavy to carry, but I still often carry normal household candles too.
Many thanks for your comment, I really love to read what you have to share and ask--I'm also grateful that you know I will respond, but sometimes it just takes a bit longer than I'd like!
Otezi man’s remains were found on alpine slopes years ago. Amado was found largest mushrooms that grew on trees trunks were dried and painted on by grandfather. Still 75 years later the red barn/ snow scene still vibrant. Friend and I carved initials in one. The bioluminescent mushrooms 🍄 kept up light for a few days.
My daughter Erin I’ve taught her create ways, especially wild foods.
So the birch bark you put in tin cans and burn to get oil?
The South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, which is dedicated to Ötzi and the world he lived in, isn’t that far from us, just eight hours drive due east, through Turin and MIlan and onwards. It would make an excellent stop on a campervan adventure! I remember the excitement when he was discovered, and writing essays about him at university (my degree was Archaeology and Prehistory). I wonder if there are other such amazing things hidden in these mountains, ready to appear thanks to the warming climate—I know there is an excellent project in the mountains and glaciers of Norway, where they’ve recovered all manner of fascinating finds found thanks to the melting ice.
I’ve never seen bioluminescent mushrooms—insects, yes, and I love them, but never fungi. The same with the sea, that is a truly magical thing to witness, when it glows in the dark it is nothing short of astonishing.
I think teaching people the wonders of wild food is something more people should do—then, perhaps, there would be more stewards of the nature. Once we can attach a value to a thing it becomes more important to protect it, which is a big problem with nature conservation, people look at it in too abstract a manner.
As for birch oil yes, that’s more or less it—you take one smaller can and one larger, the smaller you bury in the area you are going to make your fire, making sure it is well sealed beneath the larger can, which has a hole in its base, then stuff the larger can with birch bark, light it and add a lid, also with holes in it to enable the gas to escape, then you light a fire around it to aid in the production. It is a remarkable substance, so useful and important.
Thanks for birch oil art process. I will try with a neighbor’s dying tree. Otezi ‘s remains documented in National Geographic Magazine when first found. I was so fascinated. Yes melting glaciers ice has revealed mountain climbers on Mt Everest. Much more can be found in dried up lakes. Time to do historical research. There are cooler nights. I gathered some wood, but restrictions prevent from lighting a fire. I am just waiting for rain. A fireplace hearth and a glass of warm mead sounds good for the holidays. The homey wine is getting harder to find. Last few years sold out early and less Bees 🐝 production. Maybe you can find medlars a fruit like and apple, very hard. You need to let it get soft. The it has a cinnamon flavor and will cheese goes great. Old English delights. Maybe even Viking origin.
Yes! There are definitely medlars in this corner of the world, but I've yet to collect any. It is concerning what you say about the mead and bees--they are such a good barometer of ecosystem health. Here, it is almost impossible to walk anywhere without bees, whether from farmed hives, or wild. I think we are very lucky, certainly compared to the UK, where I think I saw two bees over a two week visit this year. Same with butterflies. The mountains and valleys offer a lot of variety and food, across altitude as well as laterally, but many plants are moving higher and higher and, soon, some will have nowhere left to go. So it is with the blueberry/myrtille spot Aurélie's family have gathered from for decades, it is moving up and up, and the harvest is inconsistent.
These are definitely interesting times we live in.
Fascinating stuff, Alex … tough to endure at the time with the illness making everyday tasks so difficult. I admire the rhythm you worked to, but as you say, stripping life down to a series of essentials helps. Fire, water, shelter. Stripped back.
Love the way you bring the pieces to life with contemporary reflections that build on the experienced moments captured in a journal, or in the photos you took. I wonder how others - Lydia, maybe - reflect on that time and how they felt, especially when times were tough - illness, weather etc.
Anyhoo, I’m blethering. Just a note to say I’m really enjoying these insights. Great storytelling. A mighty impressive undertaking. Cool how it has shaped who you are in the here and now. I tend to imagine the future into being … occasionally I write it down but mostly I sense the direction I want to go in and put plans in place to get there … even being here in France can be tracked back to a piece I wrote that imagined ‘Feasts and Fables, the place’. Have a great weekend.
I think this is some excellent blethering!
That's actually a super idea too, about how others might reflect on that time, Lydia is certainly the best option. (Don't think we can @ tag in comments? Or maybe just me! I'll have to ask her another way!)
I believe you need to be open to a different mindset than that which we're usually told to follow, in order to do as you say, to visualise and imagine a change, a path to follow. Too often, I find, people's thoughts are far too distracted by modern life to do this and, as such, they miss out on a myriad of possibilities. The antithesis of this is the idea of 'manifesting', when that solely means thinking about thing until it happens, passively.
Many thanks for this, and all your encouragement, I greatly appreciate it.