Debris Hut paradise

  Never have I slept more soundly.  I lay in my bed, the bed I spent 3 hrs making.  Layers of ponderosa needles, white oak leaves and small bits of mountain mahogany leaf.   The smells are intoxicating, the blackness void of any light.  If you have never slept in a pine needle cocoon, well you have never had the sweetest smelling bedroom ever!

It took me about an hour to hike on trail and through the bush to get to my destination.  A destination without agenda, goal or purpose.  I just wanted to reach the deepest part of the mountain and enjoy the quiet and solitude.  But before I can relax, I have to make camp for  the day will eventually turn to night.  

I chose a spot with about a dozen mature Ponderous pines because the depth of the needles on the ground were plentiful.  So I found a good long downed branch about 3 meters long and layed it up onto a down tree about two feet off the ground.   Using a branch like a rake I began to rake up the surrounding needles and oak leaves.   I could just crawl into that massive pile and call it a night if I wanted, but I wanted to be sure to stay cozy warm in the temperatures that will definitely drop below 0 Celsius.  

So I need to collect a number of good support branches that look like your ribs and lay them up against that long branch.  Just like the ribs in your chest, these (ribs) ran the whole length of the log just waiting for the warming insulation of those pine needles.  

It took about another hour, but now I have enough.  They are a meter thick over the entire shelter.  Now I am ready for a little wander.  Down to the stream where the spring comes forth out of mother for a good long drink... now it is off to play.   

Not more than 50 meters away from my new home was a giant pile of pine nut shells and juniper berries.  Black bear came by.  Not real fresh but a great sign of bear activity getting ready for the oncoming winter.  A Coopers hawk comes whizzing past my head, I must be close to her nest.  Coyotes calls in the distance.  Night is coming soon.  

I collected two pocket fulls of pinon pine nuts and two flat rocks and proceeded to make a nutty mash for dinner.  After finishing my absolutely favorite nut I whipped out the bow drill  and had me a nice fire to enjoy the transition to night.  

Now the night is overcoming the day.  Cicada's give way to Crickets.  Bluejay's give way to horned owls.  I love that one hour transition of life that takes place around sunset.  Now I will let the fire die and retire to my pine needle cocoon.  

I wake to, sniff, sniff, sniff, sniff.  It is all around me.  I am still half asleep but wake quickly.  What am I surrounded by.  Hungary Coyotes, BEARS!  Lay there quietly Mike.  About 5 minutes go by and it is quiet, so I remove my shelter door and slowly peak out.  There in the morning dusk was no less than 15 beautiful deer.  They must have been confused by my shelter and smells as much as I was confused waking to that strange sound.  I laid there for ten minutes and we watched each other.  Enjoying each others company, what a great start to the day.  

Nature's Gift

What would you say is the greatest gift you have received upon birth?  Without question I would say Awareness.  We are all born with it.  It is a physical, mental and spiritual connectivity to everything that is around you.  A connectivity that does not have to be thought about to activate.  Awareness should be there like a close friend in times of need, always by our side.  Awareness should keep us in a flow with our surroundings like a surfer moving along that perfect wave always in touch no matter what variable arises, with the ability to change at precisely the right moment.

The great sadness I have is that most everyone walking the Earth right now has lost touch with this most precious gift.  We have allowed outside forces to deaden or even kill our great gift of Awareness, making it look like the need for Awareness does not exist. It is looked upon as almost like the bodies need for the appendix, like a distant remnant needed in prehistoric times only.  The routine of daily life, the encapsulation of modern society seeking to always encourage comfort and safety, the lack of close involvement with Mother Earth, as well as our insatiable need to make lots of $ changing our priorities in daily life, these are the factors at work taking this precious gift from each and everyone of us.

Why is Awareness important? 

If I ask you to consciously climb into a box, one where I will feed what I want you to eat, cloth you with what I want you to wear, house you where and how I want you to live, and provide safety the way I deem fit.  Could you live in my box?  Would you want to live in my box?  If you answer “no” to any of that, then let s take this a bit farther…

Right now in your life, do you feel a void?  Do you feel like something is missing?  Maybe you go shopping for a new dress, or even buy a new car and just a day later or even a moment later you feel no more joy or thrill?  Do you want to know more about the mountains, ocean or that magnificent sunset, and be connected as if you were that mountain, that ocean, that sunset?

Most people do not even consider these questions of disconnect, however, they experience them on a daily basis.  Why?  Because we are now a species of life that only knows actions.  We use our physical senses and logical mind solely.  A people moving along with a way of life that moves at a break neck pace.  No time for deep thought, contemplation, or Awareness.  Out of step with what we really are.  Remember, our ancestors rubbed sticks together to make a fire for thousands of years. Finding the wood, making the tool by hand, collecting firewood, then making a fire, yet we think it is more normal to just drive up to a window ask for a burger and 1 minute later we are eating.  

Being Aware is being receptive, not just being reactive.  Once you are receptive to the regarded information, you then respond accordingly to that processed stimuli.  This is really a simple process, but very hard to do in today’s world.

This is why nature is such a crucial teacher when it comes to reawakening our abilities of Awareness.  Nature comes with its own built in lessons.  These lessons are personalized for each and every one of us to hear.  Nature teaches at the exact speed needed for you to listen, and gives you the exact lesson that you need at any one particular time.  We just have to get our selves in rhythm with nature and Mother Earth once again.  Easily said, not as easily done.

To become receptive and not reactive, one needs to be in nature, to simply observe nature and the dynamics that go on with all life.  In doing this, you will slow down to the speed or pace of nature which is very slow and deliberate, like the drip of water from a faucet.  It is this slow pace that allows for nature to unload her knowledge upon you.

Nature is a beacon or guiding light to that great missing piece called Awareness. It is available to everyone, no purchase is necessary, and the lessons are universal to each and every one of us.