Life in the city

In short, I couldnt do it. Ever. Up until this week, I worked from home, 3 days a week. It was nice (I work in the telecom industry). I had to deal with horrible traffic, people, etc, only twice a week. Coworkers are fine. But, I came to a realization this week. We, as human beings, simply arent meant to be office dwellers. Nothing is healthy about sitting in traffic, only to arrive at a job, sitting in a cubicle, all day, for 9 hours, eating crappy food, to commute the same way home, again, in traffic-and repeat that, 5 days a week. We, as human beings, arent meant to be sedentary. We werent sedentary until the advent of the industrial age-and, became REALLY sedentary in the space age, and its gotten progressively worse since then. We spend 8 hours (most of us), behind a computer. We spend an hour sitting for lunch, bitching about sitting behind a desk for 8 hours. We spend an hour commute, each way. Thats 11 hours a day, we spend, sitting, doing menial work. We dont get the sunlight we need. We dont get the greenery we need (recently they released a study about how spending time out in the woods is a big anti depressant-says a LOT about our society). We, as modern Americans, are FAR too plugged in to each other. We have social media. The majority of us, myself included, have smartphones. We, technically, are never without some sort of technology. There is a lot going on politically regarding violence in this country (even though stats show its going down, most people think its going up-thank the news). Here is my take on it; we watch too much TV. We spend too much time on social media sites. We are too concerned with how others perceive us, or that others dont think the same way we do. This is not new, of course. This is because we NEVER UNPLUG. People have ALWAYS had differing views. In the past, people talked about these things. There werent threats, there wasnt facebook to let everyone know what you feel. There was actual, human interaction. Those days have largely disappeared. Now, what can we do about that?
In a word: nothing. We cannot stop progress. We cannot suddenly turn it all off, and go back to a more wholesome time-a time when kids played outside, and no one worried. A time where boys went to school with pocketknives, and werent suspended or expelled. A time where people showed respect towards each other. We cannot go back to those days, as a society. We CAN as individuals. We can choose to be what we once were; respectful of each other. Compassionate, but firm (people need to learn lessons the hard way sometimes). Caring. Happy. Here is what I am doing in MY life-you do what you like, because only you can change yourself:
First, we got rid of TV. A HUGE step. Here is why. We were sick & tired of the doom and gloom of the news. Of product placement. Of shows that, for the most part, had the IQ of a 6 year old. We discussed it, and came to the conclusion that we were paying $80/month, to watch 2 channels. JUST TWO CHANNELS. Not worth it. Now, the benefits of it? Well, other than not being subjected to the idiot stuff on TV (We still have netflix and hulu), we dont have some kind of "tv schedule". You may not even be AWARE of this phenomena. But, when you watch TV, you actually work your life around it. You are tied to certain TV shows. You know what? If you dont watch it-thats OK. NOTHING HAPPENS. Its TV. Its designed SPECIFICALLY to fill a void in your life. The average American watches 4 hours of TV a day. A DAY. Thats 4 hours, wasted, doing nothing but staring at a screen!! Trust me, give it up-its a great liberating feeling!
Second, exercise. Not go to the gym exercise-there is PLENTY you can do at home. And, along with this, eat better. When your body feels healthy, you will feel better, about life in general. Even a light regimen, daily, will make you feel great.
Third, be social. Spend REAL time with friends. Not texting, not facebooking-spend quality time with those who are important to you.
Fourth-take regular walks in the woods. Studies have shown people who do this, are less depressed. My own feeling is that we simply have less input-we simply enjoy being in a state where we arent getting bombarded with info. We simply are there. Enjoying nature. Listening to birds. Watching a small stream. Smelling the surroundings. We spent thousands of years like that-we arent meant to be inside. Engage your senses for what they were designed for.
Finally, get a hobby. It doesnt have to be anything special-but, find something that makes you feel good. That centers you. This is important. Everyone needs something in their lives, that makes them happy. That they can get absorbed in. It can be as simple as reading, or as complex as computer coding. It doesnt matter, just find something that makes you happy.
Thats all I have for tonight :). Enjoy your weekend!

Sorry :(

I havent posted in quite some time. Honestly, life gets in the way. To be brief; after the Newtown tragedy, there has been a lot of legislative assaults on legal firearms owners. As I have, literally, been around firearms 90% of my life-15 years Army, plus another 20 as a civilian who has owned them-I have been fighting constantly on the state and federal level, to ensure that the rights of ALL people arent infringed, due to knee jerk legislation. But, thats another story entirely.
Also, I am getting married this October, so my time is somewhat constrained there as well. I have lost most of my weekends to both of the above details, but, I am VOWING to get out more often this year.
One thing that the fiance and I are now getting into is birding. I see this as an almost natural progression to bushcrafting & outdoors activities. There is, literally, TONS to learn, but, learning I am! So, thats one more thing under my belt, I suppose :).
One new skill I DID pick up recently, was using a flint & steel. I went to a Bushmeet a couple weeks ago, local to me, and there were a few folks there teaching. All I can say about this old style of lighting fire is, its FUN. I plan to get a LOT of practice on this in the next few months, and develop this as a great skill. Next up, will be the bow drill. I did this, once, over 20 years ago, in a military survival class. Lets see if I can actually recreate it though :).
Anyway, thats my update for this week. I have some new gear, traded away some old gear, and plan on doing some shots of it in use. We have a couple of overnight hammock hangs planned in the next couple months, as well as some short overnight hikes. As we recently cancelled our TV subscription, we want to spend more time outdoors (I'm lucky with the fiance, as she loves the outdoors as well, and enjoys learning new skills!). So, hopefully, I will continue to update this blog, as time goes. As I have MORE time to do it now, I think that it should be a little easier. Time will tell!
Until then, be safe, enjoy the natural world, and be thankful, every day, for those precious things in life-friends, family, sunrises over lakes. Because, those things, people cannot take from you.

A winter weekend spent outside, wearing nothing but wool & canvas

I had the opportunity this past weekend to go camping/snowshoeing out in western Massachusetts, and experience my first winter hammock hanging experience. I have been winter camping before, but never did so with a hammock, and, as this was a drive in & park, with a short walk, I figured this would be ideal, as I could take ample gear, just in case. Also, I decided that, for this weekend, I would use ONLY natural materials as my clothing, to see how that worked. This is something I had never done previously, and had some new gear I wanted to try out.


Here is a breakdown of what I had:

Sleeping/shelter gear:

Warbonnet Blackbird hammock

Gossamer Gear CCF pad

Homemade reflectix pad for additional insulation

¾ length Underquilt (brought, but didn’t use, as the pads were enough)

North Face 0* synthetic sleeping bag

Warbonnet Superfly tarp



Clothing:

Merino wool long undershirt (worn)

Merino wool sweater (bought at salvation army for $1.99), worn

Heavier wool sweater (also bought at salvation army, for $2.99), not worn, but taken, just in case

Wool shirt, heavy weave, for wind resistance, worn at night

LL Bean wool vest, worn

Knit wool army watch cap, worn

Ragg wool half gloves, with the mitten part that flips over, with polypro glove liners, worn

German army wool pants, worn

Merino wool socks, worn (2 extra pairs for the weekend)

USAF mukluks, with wool felt liners, worn

Ragg wool socks, for sleeping in (thick)

Medium weight polypro long underwear, for sleeping in

Snugpak parka, never worn-taken, just in case (used to stuff the bottom of my bag though).

Cooking:

Small Mors pot, with bail, titanium spork, and SS mug, with reflectix cozy.

Stove is my Emberlit.

So, with all that, I spent a weekend with fellow hammock hangers-many of whom, like me, had never done a winter hang before. A couple of people didn’t pack proper footwear-which is why we decided this one would be something that people could drive into, and out of, just for that reason. So, on to the actual fun parts:

The area chosen for this outing is a Boy Scout camp in western MA. It is an absolutely stunning area. We had a nice little stream running through our area, and were located a stones throw from a pond, where we could fish, if we desired (I didn’t know about this prior, otherwise I would have taken my gear). I got there about 11 on Friday, and was one of the first people to show up. We were expecting a large group-initially almost 40-but, experience with these are that, we usually get about 2/3 of those who say they will go. Fridays temps were in the mid 20’s during the day. We had a communal fire going, and there were 2 pots over it, the entire weekend-one for coffee, one for hot water. The fire was central to our little group-which was nice. We all gathered, talked, cooked, and warmed, near this, the entire weekend. Friday had about 16 people showing up, and setting up camp in our little area. We had the run of the woods, and the ranger made an appearance Saturday, and again Sunday, to check on us. He was a great guy-and had some pretty cool stories to tell (to include a run in with a Bigfoot, twice, in NY…). He was really impressed with all the different hammock setups.

The first night, the temps dropped down to the low teens, with gusting winds of 20 mph. One of the folks there brought a telescope in the back of their jeep, and treated those of us willing to part with the fire, to some pretty cool views of Jupiter and her 5 moons, among other things. As to the wool clothing-I was warm, throughout the night, and throughout the weekend! I think I was the only one who never once had chilled feet. The mukluks & liners were that comfortable. The combination of base layer, sweater, heavy shirt, and vest, kept me warm, and safe near the fire (several folks had sparks land on their down clothing, causing small holes). The first night, sleeping, I was warm, except for my feet. I rectified this with stuffing my puffy jacket into the end of the bag. Problem solved. I got up a few times to answer natures call, and, with the wind, outside the tarp, it was, in a word, freezing.

The second day was a little warmer, and I did some exploring of the local pond. I also picked up a hemlock branch, for my emberlit. I was one of the first people up, so I started the fire, which was fairly simple, as we still had embers from the night before. As this was a drive in meet, one of the organizers had a GIANT reflector oven, which he cooked a roast in, over the course of the day (pictures to follow). I learned a new knot as well. I don’t recall the name of it, but it’s a variation of a daisy chain (also picture of the knot below).

We were communing around the fire most of the day, swapping stories, getting to know those of us whom we had never met before. We had a dinner of goat stew, some libations, then retired for the night.

Night 2, it snowed about an inch. Prior to going to bed, I heated up some water in a bottle, and threw it into my socks for the next day, then went to bed. My setup was so efficient, that, the next morning, when I finally got up, the water was warm enough that it only took a couple minutes to get it to a boil for coffee. I was so warm the entire night, I slept with my bag part way open, with overnight temps of 20*. I was woken twice during the night; the first time, by coyotes yipping close to camp, the second, just before dawn, by the mooing of a moose. That’s the first time I have ever heard that sound, and I have to say, it was probably the highlight of the weekend for me.

Overall, it was a GREAT weekend spent outdoors. I met some amazing people, I learned a new knot, I got to test some new equipment, and felt really comfortable wearing nothing but natural fibers all weekend long.


Some pics: