Not just Surviving...Day 5

Our final day was filled with accomplishments, reflection, and time with one another in nature.

There was a final challenge to have attitude, shelter, water, fire, and food in 90 minutes.  We used a new location today so the landscape was unfamiliar.  Each family was able to make positive improvements to their situation, as compared to earlier in the week.  They all met the deadline with almost half the time to spare, many started other projects as suggested to make their survival comfortable.  There was extra firewood, rock seats, spoons, tongs, drying racks, animal evidence, beginnings of shelter reinforcement, and more.  The site selections were all better than previous attempts, some were south facing for more sun based on the limbs on the trees, there was attention to higher is dryer, and proximity to water, two families even banned together.  

There were some amazing trees too.  One that older than anything else around (what it must have seen in it's lifetime?) , another with signs of a very busy sap sucker methodically pecking away over and over again. Stories were formed about the landscape around us as we talked, reflected, and ate noodles and hemlock tea.  When it was time to break camp, each group groaned and asked if we could stay....the power of the earth and landscape around us was being felt today.  Survival happened inside each of us as we had moments where we found our edge and stretched towards it. 

This week turned out to be about more than tarps, sticks, fire, blindfolds, weather, tracks, knives, matches, or rope.  It was about more than the tools or the skills.  It was about a journey of awareness, philosophy, self, and intuition.  We were given space to fail, get frustrated, work together, and find success that fit our abilities and mindset.

We weren't surviving the zombies, or an EMP, or governmental collapse...we were made aware, even for a brief moment, that we are surviving a world of disconnection from our past, from our earth, from our landscape, from OUR edge.  THANK YOU MIKE, COLBY, JIM, and all of Main Primitive Skills School!!! Thank you Jonathan Frame for being the man behind the week.  We can't wait to share our knowledge with everyone at the symposium tomorrow.