April 1st, 2010 Evan
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Dirt smudged children ran laughing through the forests today with spears and face paint. Today’s lesson was the Atlalt, a spear (or more properly, a dart) thrower that predates the bow and arrow. A stick, a twig, a sharp knife, a long reed, two feathers and a bit of string. Soon the wild children were hurling darts twice their height through targets and into rotted tree stumps. The joy of making a thing that does something is intoxicating. Equally impressive was the careful attention to safety on the part of the kids. Spears were never launched toward people, and knives were used very carefully. As I heard it, the only person to cut themself the entire day was an adult (don’t worry it was minor).
The best part of the day however was having a group of kids and adults playing together. As much learning as was done it was all play – intuitive, spontaneous, imaginative. The children thrived with the one-on-one attention, and looking around so did we grownups.
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April 1st, 2010 Evan
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Cooking with a fire; much fun. Best part is when in doubt you can always burry a spud in coals, leave it for who-knows-Âhow-long, tear it open and munch out the tasty inner bits – same works for onions. You lose a bit of the outside and the meal ain’t elegant, but you can’t beat it for simplicity.
If you are a true gourmand you heat a rock over a fire in a small pit and cook bacon on the rock. Then, keeping the grease on the rock with a “gasket” or “levy” of what amounts to biscuit dough, you proceed to fry potato slices and eggs. Fire roasted garlic is excellent for topping both.
Should you be feeling creative cut an onion in half, scoop out some of the central rings, and crack an egg in to the resultant bowl: place near – but not in hot coals. I believe this was termed “sunshine in tears” or something to that effect.
Also of note, just about anything can be skewered and roasted over flames or coals – from chickens to apples. Our tesst also concluded that all such delights could be elevated to new heights by the liberal application of butter or lard (and optional salt) to the exterior before roasting. Salt helps too.
Most of all have fun, be creative and just accept that around half of your creations with go up in flames . . . usually in the litteral sense. In this domain simple experience is the best teacher.
With this experience under our belts our survival in the wilderness is now a simple matter of finding onions, potatoes, garlic, fish, chickens, apples, flour, salt, lard, honey, butter, sugar, baking soda, herbs for seasoning, eggs and bacon . . . in the woods.
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April 1st, 2010 Evan
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And I’ve got my own highlights (the duplicates are worth duplicating):
. . . A massive wave rolled over and around me – my first plunge into the Pacific. That whole day was SO California, like something out of a movie; picnic on the grass, someone playing guitar, games in the parking lot, singing on the beach.
. . . A crowd stood in thick black smoke bending glowing bits of scrap metal to their will, laughing at crude jokes.
. . . Voices cloaked in shadow rose up from the dark redwood forests after a day of silence, summoned by the invocation of mystery and the spirit of the northeast, calling us to complete a song that was still new to the world; men danced shirtless in the firelight – Yep, this really happened.
. . . Someone felt like punching a far-too-smiley host because they just weren’t in the mood. Another felt like they needed time alone, Someone else connected powerfully to his past while others sought time together to share stories.
. . . A pygmy owl eyed us suspiciously as it devoured a varied thrush not twenty feet away.
. . . Forty grungy travelers arrived at a house whose owners had been strangers a day before – and tore down their fence before leaving.
. . . The ocean wind swept about me as it sought to climb the cliff wall behind the beach where Kathryn and I skipped perfect stones on the rising tide.
. . . A large slug crawled across someone’s face. A cougar walked for half a mile in the perfect mud by the side of a dirt road . . . Just another Anake trip; alternately magical, fun, and tiring.
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April 1st, 2010 Evan
::K::
People are supposed to make a road trip at some point in their lives to California. Â Why not do it with forty some odd people . . . in vans? Â After all, the Anake program is supposed to be a year of adventure.
We zoomed through so many adventures as we drove through Oregon and California that one detailed blog entry would require several hours to read. Â So, I have compiled a list of a few golden moments. Â Enjoy.
Watching a Northern Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium gnoma) consume a Varied Thrush (Ixoreus naevius), cough up a pellet, and then disappear into the trees. Â How many owls do we miss when we walk through the forest?
Realizing that cob ovens should never be constructed during chilled rainy winter days. Â However, dancing as a means to mix the clay, sand, and water helps one to stay warm.
Baby goats are superb cuddlers.
Driving in the vans, rain splattering the windshields, anticipating the very first redwood we would feast our eyes upon.
Face plastered to the van window. The first spotted palm tree was a much welcomed sight.
Big Basin National Park: Â wet and sopping like a sponge. Â The sunlight shining through the trees like golden crowns.
Rooms within trees.
Walking across a stream on a felled redwood and not even having to balance, because the girth was so massive.
I forgot what it felt like to be dry. Â It was warming.
6:30 am wakeup calls.  Singing people awake.  Causing a noise complaint to be made after we sang “Pleasant Words†at Big Basin National Park.  Apparently, not everyone likes to be woken up with pleasant words.  Perhaps the voices were not as pleasant as we had thought.
Slow, lingering nature walks, where we could just push our nose into the dirt.
Seeing Orion perfectly framed between Redwood tree boughs each night.
Wild shirtless men dancing and singing around the fire.
This trip was coming home for some.
Basking in the sun. Â Not even worrying about applying sunscreen.
Dashing in and out of the Pacific Ocean in long underwear, while the waves swept the pebbly beach from underneath my feet.
Descending a gravelly cliff with a rope and skipping rocks on the waves to finish off a sunny day’s walk to the Pacific Ocean.
Gazing at an orange sunset over a cow pasture and thinking, “wow, this looks like the California I see depicted on food containers in the grocery store.  Such images really do exist.â€
Adapting to van rides. Â The 19 hour van ride home was not nearly as difficult as I expected . . . for me, a passenger, at least. Â Energizing the drivers with brownies, massages, conversation, and coffee.
An anticipated proposal at the end of the trip. Â The ring was forged during our blacksmithing days at Trackers Northwest. Â The proposal was successful.
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January 30th, 2010 Evan
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January 23: . . .and Falcons
By halfway through Friday I was glad I had rested up the day before. Alexia took our learning group out to the Skagit valley. In one day I saw more assorted raptors than I see in most years.
Four species of falcon danced on scimitar wings: harriers flew lazily by: hawks stared at flocks of geese and waterfowl from the top of every telephone pole. Flocks of dunlins flew like a single organism, a swirling orb, streaked with silver as they flashed their bellies to the sun. Merlins swooped after sparrows: our clunky van raced a rough legged hawk. Trumpet and tundra swans flocked and preened: eagles built nests. Thanks to friendly fellow birders and their spotting scopes we were able to see a prairie falcon and Harlan’s hawk as though at arms length.
We saw birds in all their moods through every part of their day. Arriving home in the after noon I pried my fingers from their white knuckle grip on my binoculars and lay down for a nap taking a few hours
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January 30th, 2010 Evan
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January 22: Skulls, Twigs . . .
In our third week of the winter quarter we continue the pattern; each day something completely different, hardly time to breath as we continue to learn. To be honest, the pattern is beginning to drain me a bit. While I have enjoyed charging through such a variety of subject matter, it would be nice to slow down and take time to absorb more of what I am seeing. We spend a day on baskets or animal morphology; it is exciting and volumes of information are unloaded, but then I have a month or more for the details to fade as new experiences are packed in on top. No time for wishful thinking however; another adventure awaits!
We first spent a very full day pouring over skulls at the Burke Museum of Natural History, examining the details of their structure and observing the adaptation of each skull to the pressures of its environment. I love having things in my hands where I can see them, turn them over, put pieces together and see how they move. From the pictures, it seems others did as well.
Feeling a bit tired from out day at the museum, I choose to take Thursday easy. When the class split into interest based learning groups I went with Merilee who led a handful of us off to a sunny field where we sketched dormant twigs and buds collected on the land.
It was good to have a calm day in bright sun to practice some of the more time consuming naturalist work with no distractions. After shaking hands with a dozen or so physical skills the past few weeks, it was refreshing to sit down and do some brain learning at an unhurried pace. The elaborate calls of the Melospiza melodia and Spinus pinus made the day all the more enjoyable.
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January 30th, 2010 Evan
First a test of our identification skills. What does this creature eat? What is it’s dominant sense?
Working as a team sped things up.
The antlers on this skull help narrow the list of possible creatures.
This one proved to be trickier. Here is your hint – note the size and the distinct sagittal crest (the ridge of bone under Bob’s index finger)
Here kitty kitty kitty.
After the identification challenge we were let loose . . .
to sketch,
photograph,
and discuss.
Here is one of my favorites. These zig-zag teeth let you know the taxonomic family, the size tells you the species: Behold Ondatra zibethicus, the Muskrat, largest vole on the continent!
Alas, poor Yorik. I knew him, Horatio . . .
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January 26th, 2010 Evan
A warm yurt and plenty of fiber: a good place to wait out the rain.
Cattail basketry for those tired of twisting
Beneath the mountain said to be the last home of Star-boy in Native myth, we gathered to follow the signs of elk.
Old tooth scrapes: every tree we passed had at least some mark.
As we moved along their trails we began to understand the elks’ view of the world more and more. We began to BE the elk . . . some more than others.
Fresh rubs still held hairs in a wood cleared of undergrowth.
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January 25th, 2010 Evan
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January 16: A week of Rain
A medley. We started the week Tuesday, one day early, in a steady drizzle, with our bows; drawing outlines or, for those of us starting from a stave, pulling a draw knife through the wood learning to see the difference between one years growth and the next. Wednesday was dedicated to cordage (in the yurt and out of the rain), and Friday to willow basket making.
Though I have made cordage before, I rarely take an entire day to practice, so even though the first half of the day was not new, I still found a lot of value in the lessons. As the day drew on those who grew bored of twisting any of a half dozen fiber types by hand twined cattail baskets, played with a drop spindle processed nettle stalks . . . The list goes on.
Friday morning we roamed the sand bar gathering willow switches in the rain. By mid-day we were all thankful for rain gear and the wood stove in Cedar lodge, where we went to take shelter for our weaving. By the end of the day I had a complete basket – plant to functional art in eight hours. I have always found a certain magic in creating useful and durable items directly from the natural areas around me without intermediary, Friday’s project was no exception.
And you may notice I skipped Thursday. Thursday was the capstone of the week! In the midst of our otherwise sedentary activities, we took one day to run with the elk, sign tracking in a nearby preserve. Antler gouges, chews, distinctive hairs, tracks, runs and trails in a tangled web. These were our teachers for the day. As much as one can logically understand that large ruminants interact with a variety of resources and micro habitats – food, water, shelter, seeing the space where they live, roaming their trails (even mapping the loosely), smelling live elk on the air, puts this knowledge in a more intimate perspective. I haven’t just heard about the habits of elk, I have seen first hand how the land shapes their movements and how over time the land in turn is shaped by the presence of elk.
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Photos by Kathryn Hansen