Zachary Craig Hanson's Blog, page 4

Troubleshooting. Failure is an Option.

Day 64: Try, try, and try again. That’s the ethos that definitely consumes anyone who is living any level of self-sustainment. It’s that ethos which, begrudgingly, got me through yesterday. You see, I was supposed to be out on my trapline making perfect sets for a number of furbearers… but instead I was stuck in our cabin troubleshooting the reason behind our kitchen sink not draining.

Now, all told, having a non-draining sink isn’t earth shattering… but, with two kids, meals to cook, and bottles to clean… the lack of a running wash basin gets old, fast. So it was off to the races to try and eliminate all of the potential causes for my woe. I’ll spare the details, but I plunged until my arms were sore, pulled the p-trap, draino’d, vinegar & baking soda’d, snaked it, crawled on the roof to check the exhaust vent, and nearly lost my mind. It wasn’t until I found a hidden wye clean out that I confirmed my fear… Gunk.

Be glad you can’t smell this photo…

Yup, we have a rock hard, gag-inducing, buildup of fats, coffee grinds, and oils. Though we take caution to not put these things down our sink, years of build up inevitably occur. The unfortunate part was the access point I had was not in a spot where I could snake back up toward the main clog which sat in multiple 90* elbows under a crawl space. So, with reluctance I have to wait until I get back to town to buy a new t-fitting and then attack this smelly pipe with my sawzall. 

So, through the process of elimination I have confidence in where the problem lies, but for now it gets to rest in peace until I can make the 4 hour drive into town. Which brings up a good point for self-sustained living and the need for having extra key items – such as fittings for your main water/sewer line. But that’s why we live, learn, and get better prepared each day!

Daily Prompt: What in your life is prime to go wrong? Do you have old pipes? Shaky electricity? What can you do to mitigate that issue? Can you do maintenance work now or purchase supplies that could help fix the issue in a pinch?:

Motivational Passage: 

“A bruise is a lesson... and each lesson makes us better.”

― George R.R. Martin

Rewilding Action: Take an inventory today of all of your key household appliances… what makes your house run? You have water lines, sewer lines, faucets, and other appliances. Now, what tools and parts do you have on hand to fix any one of those items? Think about which items are most critical and begin stockpiling some of those basic components in order to fix them when the time comes!

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Which way will you run, when it's always all around you?

Day 63: I had a talk with a social media influencer. I was asking her how she copes with all of the faceless voices and opinions that swirl around the content she posts (hunting), which seem made up of equal parts respect and equal parts visceral hate. She takes it mostly in stride because the good often outweighs the bad, but the bad… well, the bad is just so over-the-top egregious that it stings, but the family threats and snide commentary just have to be ignored as best it can — though it still takes a mental toll. 

But, that got me thinking. It’s everywhere. Every conceivable direction you look technology, social influence, and the creator economy – a world that has a lot of good to it, but also carries an outsized bead of negativity - are there. I naively thought I could avoid it all together, where for years I refused a focused social presence. But after some time, like most, I caved. The gravitational pull to leverage social media for my own “brand” felt like a necessity and that pull was eventually too strong to resist. 

So, here I am, building a brand around adult-onset self-sustained living, using the very tools that engulf our creative mind-space on a daily basis. The very tools that so often keep us from living the lives we desire and follow online. Ironic? 100%. But, where else can you run when it’s always all around you? The answer is ‘no where.’ Social media, byte-size distractionary reels, and micro-second attention spans are what we destined for if we want to succeed in brand creation. The people and minds have spoken and this method of media consumption will continue to metastasize. 

So what to do as a person with one foot stuck in the 1800’s playing fur trapper and the other begrudgingly stuck up Jake Paul’s ass? I say look down. With iffy and questionable projections of reality consuming all breathable space we need to ground ourselves in things that are actually real. Touching physical ground, planting seeds, raising animals, eating food that we process ourselves are all ways to help plant roots that can’t be shaken by the dystopian lure of social media. The algorithms feeding you equal parts good and bad content* are here to stay, so cut through the fog, recognize when content is being shoved through a feeding tube against your will, and go outside with your phone off – even if it’s just for five minutes a day.

*(for those curious, outside of hunting, my algorithms feed me sanitarily-questionable Indian food stall reels and anger-inducing dancing tiktok families)

Daily Prompt: How has social media influenced your life? Is it a net positive? Negative? Are the accounts you follow ones that encourage you to live a more grounded and real life or are they only serving to pull you further away from your dreams?:

Motivational Passage:

“He thought of the telescreen with its never-sleeping ear. They could spy upon you night and day, but if you kept your head you could still outwit them. With all their cleverness they had never mastered the secret of finding out what another human being was thinking. . . . Facts, at any rate, could not be kept hidden. They could be tracked down by inquiry, they could be squeezed out of you by torture. But if the object was not to stay alive but to stay human, what difference did it ultimately make? They could not alter your feelings; for that matter you could not alter them yourself, even if you wanted to. They could lay bare in the utmost detail everything that you had done or said or thought; but the inner heart, whose workings were mysterious even to yourself, remained impregnable.”

― George Orwell, 1984

Rewilding Action: Turn your phone off. Do it. Power it down and go spend an hour outside. Can you even think of the last time you did that? I bet not. While you’re out there count the times you feel a phantom vibration in your pocket from some non-existant notification, the times you pull out your powered-off phone to snap a picture of some benign moment, and then notice the itchy feeling you get as you come closer to the end of your hour. If you’re anything like me you are going to feel icky and frustrated at the power that device has over you. Accept that, and make the practice of fully powering down and being outside a regular thing.

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Any Flicker of the Flame

Day 63 - Fragile is the best word to describe the world we live in. And no, this is not the beginning of some diatribe on ‘impending doom’… It’s just reality. Over the past few years, really since COVID, it has become patently obvious that everything is teetering on the edge. I feel it, you feel it, we all feel it.

Food production and distribution has been up and down. Heck, there have been multiple times I have gone to the store in the past few months to find limited or no eggs and meat available.

Food supply, fragile.

Recently we watched our best friends go through the loss of their infant daughter, we unexpectedly lost our child’s first nanny to heart failure, my best friend lost his mother to COVID, and we nearly lost my wife and unborn son to a severe head injury.

Life, fragile.

Personally, we have gone through almost eight months of unemployment and watched our ‘safety net’ of savings get demolished.

Economic security, fragile.

I talk to people everyday, well educated and employable people, struggling to make ends meet by taking on extra jobs.

Mental and family security, fragile.

Then right now, as a large winter storm rolls across our country, I see people worried about the energy infrastructure after what happened in Texas a few years ago.

Infrastructure security, fragile.

Everything. Is. Fragile.

This is not new news, but the culmination of recent events nationally and in my personal life have brought it to the fore. And though my wife and I have been on a “Turning Feral” journey for a few years, the tentacles we still have plugged into the matrix make us feel the hurt. Mortgages, the need for industry jobs, and subsidizing our food habits with store bought fare all take it’s toll and we are subjected to each of their inherent fragility. 

So, what to do? Well, there is no way fully to cut and run, and part of the journey is to grin and bare it… which we are doing to the best of our ability. Right now, keeping our faith and knowing that things will be provided for is what we are relying on, but tactically these experiences have made us accelerate our plans to remove as many ties to the matrix as possible. For example…

Mortgages? We are refocused on paying that down with aggression. Food supply? Well first I need to become a better hunter, but we are also planning to up our gardening and livestock game in the coming years. Power sources? We have solid and tested backups with natural gas and other fuel, but we want to setup a small solar farm as an augment. Income? I am still pursuing a role in the tech industry, but we will push to grow our variable income by selling books, furs, planners and other odds and ends that we find our interests being pulled toward.

It’s a fragile world, this we know, but at the core I hope many of you are like us… folks who are enjoying a happy healthy family and taking the broader evidence of fragility seriously. We are trying to remember that we can’t sit by passively expecting others to take care of things on our behalf, but instead we must create a plan to build personal security where broader society is ignoring it.

Daily Prompt: What is the most fragile aspect of your current life? Do you have a plan to mitigate that fragility if it rears it’s ugly head or possibly collapses? If not, take time to sit and really think it through:

Motivational Passage:

“When night comes on in a room lit by kerosene, any flicker of the flame can give the sense that darkness is about to triumph.”

-Larry Wetson

Rewilding Action: We’ve talked a lot about tire repair and being prepared to service your own issues as they come up. Though it’s not a perfect fix, using slime or plugs is a great way to get some longevity out of a punctured tire… I made a video of me doing just that with a punctured SxS tire the other day:

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Someone Changed the Script

“Someone has altered the script.

My lines have been changed…

I thought I was writing this play.

-Madeleine L’Engle

Day 62 - I often find myself sitting in the woods wondering about what it is I am looking for in life. I’ve explored the world, yet found myself settled in the smallest town in the US. I’ve loved and I’ve lost. I’ve succeeded and failed. I’ve learned and I’ve also let stubbornness keep me from growth. I’ve accepted pain and betrayed tenderness. I’ve hurt and been hurt. I’ve lived out the full spectrum of human emotion, many times over, and it all pushed me toward a physical place that I love… a place where I feel most connected to my Maker.

But, with all of that – that arc of humanness – I still often feel empty. Why? Is it not enough to desire a life of sustainability that pushes us back to the land and closer to nature? Well, the short answer is no, and I think it can be summed up in a passage by Pascal written back in the 1600’s:

“We are never living, but hoping to live; and whilst we are always preparing to be happy, it is certain, we never shall be so, if we aspire to no other happiness than what can be enjoyed in this life.”

Wow. Chew on that for a moment. I, for one, have been chasing earthly joy for my entire adult life. Relationships, experiences, money, ego, and yes – pursuing a more modest life of sustainability and hunting. It’s becoming clear to me that my desire for a self-sustained life in the woods is no different than when I lived in Moscow, Russia and sought the material things that made life in that city desirable and comfortable.

Is one more virtuous and natural? Sure. But at the root they are the same – they are joys that can only be lived out in this current celestial plane. So, what then? Are we bound to not enjoy anything in this life? I don’t believe so. But, I do believe that Pascal’s writing is pointing our consciousness in a certain direction, a direction that we maybe can’t see clearly – and our real joy is destined for something that comes in our next lives.

Now, that doesn’t mean we have a pass to give up on life, but instead we must recognize that joy is a byproduct of living a life that has a higher purpose and is driven by building a closer relationship with our creator. Whether that connection comes to you in the form of high-falutin city living or in a modest self-sustained mountain life is up to you, but we are all destined to build our own tapestry of understanding-seeking through human emotion. Just remember, the game is rigged and the answers are already out there for us to find.

Daily Prompt: What is your arc? What emotions, failures, and obstacles have aligned to land you where you are now? Do all signs point you back toward a central goal of understanding the ‘why’ in life? Does that give you clarity in purpose or muddy the waters?:

Motivational Passage: 

“All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end… This is the motive of every action of every man. But example teaches us little. No resemblance is ever so perfect that there is not some slight difference, and hence we expect that our hope will not be deceived on this occasion as before. And thus, while the present never satisfies us, experience dupes us and from misfortune to misfortune leads us to death.”

-Pascal

Rewilding Action: We’ve talked a lot about backups in the event of power failure, e.g. solar, gas generators, etc… But, one item I have grown fond of for short term power outages are small backup battery packs. These packs can keep certain appliances running for ~3 hours, which is usually more than enough time for your local power company to fix an issue. So, if you are living in an area with more short term power issues, these can be a great alternative to more expensive longer-term backup energy solutions.

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The Okayest Trapper Podcast - Ep. 1

Behind the Scenes of "Okayest Trapper Podcast - Ep. 1"

Host & Guest Introduction:

Zach Hanson is the affable host of the "Okayest Trapper Podcast," part of the Okayest Hunter Network. His passion for conservation and trapping shines through his hosting style. Hanson, also an author, brings a blend of knowledge and curiosity to the show.

Andrew DeHart, the guest, is a seasoned trapper with over a decade of experience. He wears multiple hats as a fur buyer, wildlife control operator, and board member of the Oregon Trapper's Association. DeHart also hosts and produces the Oregon Trappers Association and National Trappers Association podcasts.

Episode Themes:

1. Trapping and Wrestling Connection: A unique bond forms between Hanson and DeHart, both sharing a background in wrestling, which they humorously relate to trapping.

2. Conservation and Education: The episode frequently circles back to the importance of conservation and educating the public about the responsible and ethical aspects of trapping.

3. Nostalgia and Passion: DeHart shares poignant memories of trapping, infusing the conversation with a sense of nostalgia and a deep-rooted passion for the outdoors.

Key Discussions:

Trapping Techniques: DeHart offers insights into his trapping strategies, especially for bobcats, discussing cubby sets, bait preferences, and the nuances of trap placement.

Fur Grading and the Market: An informative segment where DeHart explains fur grading, especially for bobcats, and discusses market trends and preferences.

Mentorship in Trapping: Both Hanson and DeHart emphasize the importance of mentorship in trapping, suggesting that newcomers find experienced trappers to learn from.

Podcast Production Insights:

Engaging Dialogue: The conversation flows naturally, with Hanson skillfully guiding the discussion while allowing DeHart to share his extensive knowledge.

Audience Engagement: The podcast is designed to appeal to both experienced trappers and newcomers. There’s a careful balance of technical details and general information to keep it accessible.

Educational Focus: The episode serves an educational purpose, aiming to dispel myths about trapping and highlight its role in wildlife management and conservation.

Reflection:

This inaugural episode of the "Okayest Trapper Podcast" sets a high bar. It's not just about trapping techniques and stories; it's a thoughtful dialogue on the role of trapping in modern wildlife management and the importance of passing down traditional skills. Hanson and DeHart's rapport, combined with their deep knowledge, makes for an informative and enjoyable listen.

Links and Show References:

Where the Red Fern Grows

Oregon Trappers Association Podcast

National Trappers Association Podcast

Andrew’s Facebook Page

Andrew DeHart with a couple of great Oregon Otters

Outdoor Kids in an Indoor World

Day 61 - Welcome to 2024! It’s a new year and we at the Hanson cabin are doing the same exact thing(s) as last year. No new crazy resolutions. We are doing what we do best… learning, often the hard way. But, despite the lack of new fitness or diet routine to glom on to, we did ring in the new year with style.

To celebrate another full revolution around the sun, my daughter and I decided to cold camp out in the woods! Now, my 2.5 year old is an absolute wild child. She loves to be outside and enjoys running traplines with me, but ever since her mom went on a camping trip with some girlfriends this summer to a high-mountain lake, she has been obsessed with the idea of camping (and eating s’mores). So, I wanted to surprise her with the chance to get out in the woods to ring in the new year.

Getting a campsite set up that can accommodate a 2.5 year old was a new experience for me, too. I ended up choosing a spot that wasn’t too far from our cabin (about a ½ mile) and spent the day prior getting everything set up. I ended up erecting our borrowed Seek Outside tent and wood stove in an area with about a half a foot of frozen snow, which took way longer than I expected to clear. But, once I had it situated I went about equipping our space with everything I thought we may need. I brought along an extra pad to put our sleeping bags on, plenty of snacks and water, wood for the stove, and the most critical element – a portable toilet.

On the night of, my daughter and I sledded in the dark down to our campsite. She was elated as we built a big fire outside of our tent to cook some s’mores, and though this is a memory I will cherish forever, the rest of the night was marred by that joyous ingestion of sugar.

Post s’more bliss.

Once we were done with our snack my bossy daughter instructed me to go inside the tent because it was time to go to bed. I was pumped thinking she would actually follow her own advice, but what followed was a frustrating (and adorable) back and forth for the next several hours of singing, jumping, and climbing in and out of our sleeping bags. The poor girl was so hyped on sugar and excitement that she couldn’t sleep in the new environment. Several times we would briefly doze off before I would wake up to her sitting over me whispering that I had a nice mustache and that “the wolves were her friends.”

So, after about three hours and one cold poop later I decided to call it. We both got dressed and decided to head back to our cabin for her to get a proper nights rest. As we walked away from our tent in the dead of night she teared up and said good night to her short-term dwelling. Once home she was gushing about how much she loved camping and it was hard for me to remain frustrated with the outcome for long. Though I had hoped to spend the whole night out there, she walked away excited and ready to try again soon which is all I could ask for… Though I had low expectations going into the experience, I walked away with a new found respect for my child's love of the outdoors!

Writing Prompt: What activities are you nervous to do with your kids or S/O? What’s holding you back from trying?:

Motivational Passage:

“Fear prevents engagement; lack of engagement builds into a habit of avoidance; and pretty soon it’s just your family stuck inside four walls, where perhaps the biggest obstacle of all—technology—abounds.”

― Steven Rinella, Outdoor Kids in an Inside World

Rewilding Action: It’s winter in an El nino year which means we have had limited precipitation and warmer than usual weather out West… The small amounts of snowfall coupled with undulating temps means that the only thing abounding around our home is ice… lots of ice. So, in order to keep from busting our butts (which has already happened to me twice) one of our go-to tools are Yaktrax boot covers. Essentially these are rubber crampons that go over the toe and heel of your shoes and act as a mini-traction device. Truthfully, these are a lifesaver and are great to keep at home or in your car if you live in an ice prone area!

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24' Housekeeping & Old Sayings

2024 Housekeeping

Before we dive into day 60 of the Turning Feral devotional, I wanted to take some time to lay out changes to the cadence and content of this page. As we move into 2024 I will be reshaping this substack to accommodate a few different types of media.

First, the devotional is going to go from a near-daily cadence to a twice weekly publishing. My plan is to share these outdoor-focused devotionals every Wednesday and Friday.

Second, I will be sharing a new episode of my podcast "‘The Okayest Trapper” every other week. I’ll be posting a little behind-the-scenes write up along with some video clips exclusively for those who are subscribed to this substack.

The Okayest Trapper

Third, if you haven’t already, go and follow my instagram page. I am putting more effort this year into video content that revolves around hunting, trapping, and sustainable living. You can also check out clips to other podcasts that I have done within the community and find links to interesting people in the community!

Follow on Instagram

Lastly, the above restructuring is in an effort to streamline content creation so I can make room to write a new book. I first publicly mentioned this on the most recent “The Western Huntsman Podcast”, and it will be about outlaw culture and how the modern American could use a little injection of that mentality — hopefully I can have the manuscript complete and shopped around before 2025 rolls around! Thanks again for reading and now on to today’s devotional!

Day 60 - If you read enough Western books you start to pick up some interesting sayings. Everything from universally known quips such as “keep your powder dry,” and “watch your top knot,” to lesser known phrases like “root, hog, or die,” or “rue the day.” Then if you are dorky enough, like me, you may start to use some of these in your everyday language or put them in a book (Root, hog, or die is the subtitle to my second “The Bone Scraper” book).

This type of wild west language, though, always seemed to carry with it a strong message. These old colloquialisms were always wrapped around sage advice for the time – advice that was aimed at keeping the person who was receiving it alive. So why did these sayings fall out of favor over the years? Well the answer is pretty simple… we outgrew them.

For nearly a century we, as a country, have not needed to pass down basic survival sayings to our kids and loved ones. Everything difficult in our lives has largely been subdued to a point that people have forgotten many basic things and certainly don’t need common language to remind them of things they don’t need to remember. Whether about farming, hunting, bread making, or even safe driving, there seems to be no common sayings shared amongst people in our nation aimed at personal betterment – there are no more universal truths. In fact, I can’t think of one modern colloquialism that has to do with self-sustainability that 8 out of 10 people would be familiar with. 

As sad as that is, I do believe that we are on a trajectory where universal safety-sayings will be making a comeback. At some point, whether in my lifetime or not, I think self-sustainability will be a part of everyone’s life again, and it will give birth to new common sayings that will be shared across communities. 

Daily Prompt: What colloquialisms do you think will resurface in the coming years? Are there any sayings or phrases that you use today and will pass down to your kids?:

Motivational Passage:

“That coarseness and strength combined with acuteness and inquisitiveness; that practical, inventive turn of mind, quick to find expedients; that masterful grasp of material things, lacking in the artistic but powerful to effect great ends; that restless, nervous energy; that dominant individualism, working for good and evil, and withal that buoyancy and exuberance which comes with freedom - these are the traits of the frontier.”

― Frederick Jackson Turner

Rewilding Action: Tents. One of the greatest things about going on a journey of self-sustainability is embracing nature by sleeping outside. Whether it’s on a hunt, trapline, or just for fun, sleeping outside in a tent has multiple benefits. One, it can be scary – especially if you haven’t done it often, which helps build some internal grit and resilience. Two, it *probably* has some sort of woo-woo benefit of sleeping on the ground… If those two reasons aren’t enough then just consider it an exercise in emergency prep! Now, outside of huge canvas wall tents like those from Montana Canvas, I have mostly used single person or 4-person tents which are lightweight and packable. Nemo and Seek Outside have been the brands I have glommed onto and Seek Outside even has hot versions which come with a lightweight stove! Check them out and get yourself a tent and get outside.

Seek Outside Hot Tent In Action.

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The Pain of Centuries Past

Day 59 - I was born in the wrong era. That’s a sentiment I’ve often felt and one that I hear others in my circle mention with frequency. Why? It’s likely based around nostalgia for a time when you could make a living through outdoor pursuits and stake a claim to any piece of land you were brave enough to venture to. Which is unlike today where a quarter acre of rural land can cost you upwards of a million dollars and fur prices are at an all time low.

The reality though? If I lived in a different century I would probably be dead. Yup, no bravado or ego here, and I am actually glad I live in the century that I do. Even with all of the problems and lost opportunities for outdoorsmen, our current century has offered one thing that folks of the past did not have – good healthcare. You see, in my daily readings as of late I’ve focused on a few different tales of western expansion from the perspective of fur trappers, lawmen, Indians, and general frontiersmen — and the one through line in every story? Death. A lot of death.

Across all people on the western frontier of the 1800’s death was everywhere. Broken ankle on the trail? Dead. Make a wrong turn and run into some Gros Ventre or Blackfeet Indians? Dead. Infected tooth? Dead.  Small cut from a pine tree branch? Believe it or not… probably dead. Reading so many accounts of oft-benign causes of death in the old west reminds me of the fake Nicaraguan dictator, aka “the straight to jail” guy from Parks and Rec:

Taking off my rose colored glasses reading old stories, I think back to when I was a kid. With a crowded mouth of teeth I had to have several baby and adult teeth pulled. With limited to no insurance I had to endure the ripping and tearing of tooth removal with only a local anesthetic to numb the pain. If I were to have lived in the century I regularly fantasize about, I bet you could guess where I would be… dead.

What’s the point of all of this? History is written by the victors, or in the case of the old west – the survivors. That means survivor bias is impossible to avoid, which causes every story, no matter how horrific, to carry with it a bit of blind romanticism. That romanticism can cause folks in the modern age to pine for a time when life was more simple, a time that didn’t carry with it as many burdens and complications as today.

However, when you start to find yourself caught in the trap of longing for a different era, just think of the pain and consequence for action those people had to carry – it will snap you out of that longing quickly… and if it doesn’t, just take time to read this first-hand account of a woman going through a mastectomy for breast cancer without any anesthetic or modern comforts… It was a wild time filled with wild people who rode the line of death way closer than we do today!

http://wesclark.com/jw/mastectomy.html

Daily Prompt: Do you ever long to live in a different era? If you pull back from that fantasy, what would be the difficulties you would have to face if you actually lived then?:

Motivational Passage:

“Once there were brook trout in the streams in the mountains. You could see them standing in the amber current where the white edges of their fins wimpled softly in the flow. They smelled of moss in your hand. Polished and muscular and torsional. On their backs were vermiculate patterns that were maps of the world in its becoming. Maps and mazes. Of a thing which could not be put back. Not be made right again. In the deep glens where they lived all things were older than man and they hummed of mystery.”

― Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Rewilding Action: As a follow on to the idea of living in the past, today’s action will be try writing. Whether it’s a journal, following the daily prompts here, or starting a larger writing project like a book, take some time to put pen to paper. Writing as a reflection, especially when undertaking self-sustainability actions, is a great way to collect your thoughts – no matter how sporadic they may seem – and to log point-in-time reactions. When you go back and read the writing later, you will be surprised at your thoughts and likely be impressed with how you evolve over time.

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Don't Catch Yourself Slippin'

Day 58 - Sometimes you find yourself slipping. This can be related to your health, your ambition, your affection, or in my case this morning… you can find yourself literally slipping off the road. Yup, as most metaphors go they often tie back to real life events and the idea of “slipping” clearly comes from trying to drive on ice. 

Usually at this time of year our sixty-eight mile dirt road is covered in several feet of snow and is packed down into an all-together grippy surface that makes travel a breeze (except for avalanches of course). Yet this year we have had almost no precipitation, which has resulted in patchy spots of slick ice. Because of the long stretches of open dirt between the ice, I decided to tempt fate and make our morning drive chain-less. 

As you can likely surmise, that tempting of fate was silly. At five in the morning with temperatures hovering just above 0*F we started to slide down a steep hill. With my tires overinflated for the conditions there was nothing I could do except try to get one of my front tires into the inside ditch to try and prevent us from going off the river-side edge, which carried with it about a 30 ft. drop. With a quick prayer, I feathered the brakes until we came to a stop facing 180* in the opposite direction looking up hill in the direction from which we came. Yikes.

With two kids, two dogs, and a wife all crammed in the truck, we took a second to high-five at our luck before I went out in the dark to put chains on. With some finesse I got our chains on and backed down the hill until I could conduct a painful 40-point turn to get pointed back in the right direction. With adrenaline spiked, we slowly scooted home on intermittent sheets of ice while I reflected on how unnecessary it was to get caught slipping.

You see, I knew the conditions warranted chains but I wanted to see how far I could get without them for no reason other than laziness. Clearly this turned out to not be too far and I was lucky that something worse didn’t happen to me and my family. All of this makes an appropriate metaphor for life, though. If you see something you could slip on, don’t be lazy and wait for a potentially dangerous scenario to take action… take the time and put some chains on (metaphorically speaking) early and get ahead of the issue!

A cold 1* morning to be out ice skating with the truck.

Daily Prompt: Where are you slipping in life? What can you do to make sure you are staying ahead of it?:

Motivational Passage: 

“The world we suggest is a new wild west. A sensuous evil world. Strange and haunting, the path of the sun…”

― Jim Morrison

Rewilding Action: Speaking of tires… It’s handy to have emergency tire sealant on hand when you are driving in the backcountry. The brand “slime” has worked well for me and can usually patch a hole as long as it’s not in the sidewall. The biggest thing (which I learned the hard way) is to make sure you keep it in your cab… otherwise the slime tends to freeze, which is useless when you are trying to repair a tire in the snow.

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Welcome to the Tradin' Post

**SPECIAL UPDATE**

Before we dive into today’s devotional I wanted to share exciting news. I am starting a podcast under the ‘Okayest Hunter’ network that is focused on all things trapping! The podcast is aptly titled, ‘The Okayest Trapper,’ and will feature guests from across the spectrum of trapping, hunting, and sustainable-living. Starting this January, you will get to enjoy an episode every two weeks to augment the Turning Feral daily devotional. Check out the pilot introduction episode on Spotify:

Day 57 - Tradin’ posts. You know, the old time general store that has everything? Bolts, food, or any odd or end that you could imagine? One of my youngest memories as a kid was going into an old southern general store, where the owner openly carried two 6-shooter pistols on his hip. I remember being amazed at the breadth of random trinkets that lined the un-dusted shelves ready to be bartered for. But over time those little mom and pop shops have all but died out, only to be replaced by department stores with long rows of LED lights that mute the colors of the floor to ceiling shelves. 

And though I haven’t seen too many general store or trading posts in the past two decades, is trading really dead? Well, for the longest time I assumed it was six-feet under and only a memory of a bygone era. Yet, the past few years post-COVID I have seen a a resurgence in the trading community. In our little town for instance trading has become a part of everyday living. Leveraging a private community chat group, if someone needs something (help, a tool, food item, etc.), others chime in and help out… though it’s not a direct trade, often those asking or receiving will offer something in return… something they are uniquely qualified to do, like welding, baking, cleaning, etc.

Though that’s one small data point in an extremely rural community, I am also seeing this crop up in more urban areas. In fact, I recently met a wonderful real estate agent in the Boise metropolitan area who, after some general chatting, started to talk about his desire to live his life in the backcountry one day. His eyes were lit up at the thought and he casually mentioned that he is a part of a community group in Boise that gets together to do group trades and bartering. He said that people bring all sorts of things from hand made trinkets, to fur, breads, milk, and flowers. He then mentioned that oftentimes people with no wares to peddle will show up with skills to trade – you may see a knife sharpener, a tire repairman, or even a calligrapher to participate in the bartering.

As we move into uncertain times it seems we are on a slow regression toward the past, which is one that I fully embrace. That said, if we think about life in a bartering society where old timey tradin’ posts reemerge, there is an importance to ensure that we possess the ability to collect items worthy of trade, or develop unique skills that hold value. Like many in my position who are coming from the ‘old’ American dream of higher education and white picket fences, there is a gap in skill that exists for us. So, as we enter into middle age it’s important to keep a traders mindset and seek to collect skills that will drive value for us personally, as well as for whatever local community we find ourselves a part of.

I’ll end today’s devotional with a quote about western traders in the Montana territory around 1878 – a wild bunch they must have been:

“While the kind of men in one way were shiftless and lazy and despised common work, their life was still harder than any kind of work. Only those who were made of steel could stand the hard knocks they had to go through. They lived out on the wide prairies and in the silent hills and sometimes did not see another person for a whole year. In this life a man soon forgot his father and mother, and even his God. That is, until they came into a trading post.”

- A Tough Trip Through Paradise

Daily Prompt: It’s 2027 and you’ve just walked into a trading post… you’re hungry and need some new clothes. What are you able to trade to get the essential items you need for your family?:

Motivational Passage: 

"There are those who argue that everything breaks even in this old dump of a world of ours. I suppose these who argue that way hold that because the rich man gets ice in the summer and the poor man gets it in the winter things are breaking even for both. Maybe so, but I'll swear I can't see it that way."

-Bat Masterson

Rewilding Action: You know the saying ‘overkill is underrated’? Well, that applies to today’s rewilding tip. If you find yourself starting a little homestead, or even just trying to clear a field to grow some crops, there is one universal thing you will run into… ROCKS. Though most of them can be moved by hand or with an excavator, sometimes they are just too big and require a little extra love. That love can come in the form of dynamite or other types of explosives, but the most economical (and the least amount of ATF paperwork) are little microblasters. These aren’t cheap, but having them on hand can be useful when you are needing to break up some big pieces of earth. Enjoy the youtube rabbit hole, here!

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