…having been raised with the privilege that comes with being a Northerner, I have spent the best part of my life in the bush. But let me be honest, my experience in the bush was graced with temperamental indoor plumbing and an old General Electric fridge from the 60’s that committed to keeping the potato salad for the weekend only. On the occasion that the septic tank blew up or the fridge started running, there was always an uncle on the ready to make ‘roughing it’ a little more pleasant.
There was a part of me that always knew deep down that I wasn’t living a truly rugged life with these antiquated but modern day amenities. It didn’t stop me from loving every moment down below the tree line on Batchewana Bay but I often romanticized a more natural, responsive interaction with the land and lake that I treasured so much. I just didn’t know how to.
So when this past Saturday I finally had the opportunity to learn about true survival upon the Northern landscape I was pretty excited. The day was pleasant enough, not as humid as the weather station predicted and the company was invigorating. Amie and I hadn’t seen each other since the old Sault Youth Association days and we were both looking forward to learning about wild food foraging with Frank. By the end of our day, I was anything but an expert- especially about milkweed but that didn’t curb my enthusiasm.
For More On This http://www.northernhoot.com/news/agriculture/my-walk-with-frank-my-humble-lesson/
