Preparation is what we have left when the plan falls apart. Acquiring the skills necessary for survival is a part of this preparation. However, it takes much more than the knowledge and skills to build shelters, find food, make fires and travel without the aid of standard navigational devices to live successfully through a survival or evasion situation. Some people with little or no survival training have managed to survive life-threatening circumstances. Some people with survival training have not used their skills and have died. A key ingredient in any survival situation is the mental attitude of the people involved. Having survival skills and proper preparation are important. Having the will to survive is essential.
U. S. ARMY CORPS, NAVY, AND AIR FORCE
Our mistake was that we let our winter weather guard down in February, the weather was unusually warm and bathed us in radiant sunshine. We were seduced again by March coming in like a lamb, more warm, more sunshine. I should have known better. Living out here in the big woods one should never, ever, take mother nature for granted. She will and often has, spanked our butt.
The second half of March changed drastically. Temperatures dropped like a rock, down some 30 degrees. Adding to the dark cloudy skies, pounding cold and snow were the icy, penetrating, north-west winds. 3 to 5 inches of heavy wet stuff are predicted for tomorrow. Yes, this is beautiful Michigan, but, oh how depressing she can be. Old man winter and Mother Nature play this game of tug-of-war every year. We thought Mother Nature with her promise of an early season won the game so we took the plow off the truck, she spanked us hard!
I don’t like being cooped up so I took a hike into the forest. After about a mile of trudging down the trail on crunchy, frozen ground I ran into Mrs. Bigfoot scouting about looking for easy sticks and twigs for the family hearth. Without the usual ton of snow in the big woods it was light work to gather wood. We exchanged the usual friendly cordialities. Then I asked if I could ask her a personal question. She was fine with that since we had become pretty good friends over the years.
How do you keep your family warm and comfortable without modern utilities? Sleeping on the cold ground drains the body of any warmth, how do you sleep at night? I was truly curious. How do you heat water, for instance?
Mrs. Bigfoot put down her twigs and branches and lead us over to a large fallen log where we could sit while she told me her story of life without what we refer to as necessities. I was grateful to Mrs. Bigfoot because I was about to get a lesson in true living I will never forget.
Let me start at the beginning, she whispered. We have been walking this planet for a very long time. Since we don’t keep records I can’t tell you exactly how long, except to say our kind has seen many, many winters.
As a young female we learn early from our elders how to gather herbs and roots. It is customary for Grandmother Bigfoot to present her young protege with her very own pouch which is tied around her waist for holding tools and gathering herbs. This pouch is the youngsters to keep throughout the her life with a grandmothers love.
I can see where this could be translated into a modern day ladies purse, I interjected. Throughout our history ladies have carried some sort of bag. Some women go to great lengths and trade huge amount of wealth for a bag because someone with a popular name designed it and had it made in a special place. Did modern women learn carrying a bag from you?
I suppose that could be possible. Mrs. Bigfoot said while staring off into space thinking about that for a moment. Our ancient cousins, the Neanderthals, originally made pouches, bags and water carriers from Antioch stomachs or hollowed out muskrat or beaver.
When young bigfoots mate they have their respective duties and traditions. It is the females duty to wake up early in the morning and check on water and supplies for the day this way she can give her mate a suggestion for what they need. If she needs water for the morning meal, she will need to go to the creek and haul it home in whatever instrument she finds. 200,000 years ago her ancestors carried water in the stomach of downed Antioch but today we scour the woods and collect things hunters have left behind. I snagged a few buckets a couple of years ago. A little pine tar on the cracks and they are good to go.
One of our traditions or duties as the female mate is keeper of the hearth, so she now checks on the hearth to see if there are any hot coals left from the fire the night before. If she did a good job of making last nights fire she could simply put some wood on it and have a roaring fire to cook the morning meal when the family wakes up.
She will wait a bit for the morning fire to die down and what is left are some hot coals she then places a few pebbles next to those coals. These would be used to heat morning tea from the herbs and plants collected the day before. Our cups, you see, are made from reeds and grasses and sealed with pine tar or beeswax. They would burn right up if you put them over an open fire to heat. We generally get two to three uses out of each cup before it needs to be resealed. Just part of our daily chores. Clay and wooden kitchenware are a more recent addition to the bigfoot kitchen. I don’t believe my great grandmother used clay for sure.
See the stone over there? She asked as she pointed to a particularly large flat, gray stone with a dip in the center of it 20 feet off the trail.
Yes, ok. I see it. I responded. It looks like someone took the time to make bowl out of it.
Close. Mrs. Bigfoot said with a big smile. That stone is where I grind acorns and seeds to make flour. It is a lot of work but very nutritious. Our youngsters are very healthy. Minerals from the stone leach into what I’m grinding so no need for supplements. Depending on how fine I grind these seeds and acorns they can be used for flatbread or porridge. The flatbread cooks on a large flat rock in the coals and I warm the porridge the same way I make tea. Wooden tongs are used to pick up the heated rocks for tea and porridge.
You don’t want to use rocks and stones from the river or those that have been standing in water, though. Rocks and stones are phorrus and retain water. They can crack and break or even explode when they get too hot and create steam. Just a word of caution if you try cooking your food on a rock. She chuckled as she shifted her great bulk on the log. Can’t tell you how many times I have seen someones rock explode on them. A new mate had a rock blow apart and hit her in the head. She was never quite right after that.
When Miss Bigfoot finally chooses her mate, she chooses the best of the males. This ensures the survival of her family. He should be strong and a good hunter. Also, he should be interested in raising a family. Some males aren’t interested. They just serve the group by their work and protection.
When Miss becomes a Mrs. the clan women give her flat stones and various sized rocks as gifts for her kitchen. She should then have enough rocks for when the babies come. The rocks she is given as gifts will help keep her baby warm and in winter she can place them in her infants foot coverings and outerwear. For the older ones, pouches are made to put hot rocks to hold close to the body and put in their footwear, too.
After a long day of hunting and gathering it is now time to tuck her family into bed. Mother bigfoot digs a trench where the family will be sleeping. Next she pulls out about three to five inches of soil and placed hot rocks or hot coals into the trench. She covers the trench back up with the soil she removed and places a sleeping pallet over the trench. She tenderly puts her family to bed and covers them up. There they stay toasty warm until morning.
Amazing! Thank you for that lesson my dear friend. I said as I pressed my hand over her large hair covered arm. You truly live a blessed life, although, a heavy work filled one. You have learned how to use what nature has provided to keep your family healthy and comfortable. Thank you again.
I had an opportunity to use some cold weather survival stuff once. So I got a grasp of your hard work and dedication to family.
The thing I learned that in our structured lives and houses it is almost impossible to get sleep when the power is out and your feet are cold. It was years ago when my children were younger that we had a March similar to the one we are experiencing now. It had been a reasonable winter season and March offered us a springtime debut. Suddenly, in the middle of the night the temperatures plummeted to 30 below zero along with a strong cold wind that kicked up and froze everything. Our house heater or furnace as we call them was out because our electrical power had gone out.
Yes, I remember that winter. Said Mrs. Bigfoot. I could see she had a hurtful scowl which was prominent through the fur on her face reliving that memory. That was the winter we lost two of our elderly bigfoots. It was an unexpected change in weather.
Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that. We were lucky enough to have a gas stove in my kitchen. The power was out for three days during the coldest days in March on record. It got so cold in our house that the dogs bowl of water on the floor froze. I was able to cook a warm meal for my family and the dog plus I could heat water to create some warmth in the kitchen. At night we wore our leggings, head coverings and mittens to bed. As they climbed into bed I handed them a mason jar full of boiled water wrapped in a towel. That warm jar was snuggled in down by their feet. My dear family stayed toasty warm until morning. We were totally unprepared for that few days too. I learned some valuable skills that year.
Well, thank you again. I appreciate our talks but I have taken up enough of your gathering time. I should get heading back.
Hey, before you go, just wanted to let you know our clan may be moving deeper into the woods. These woods are becoming too busy with all the wheeled machines tearing up the trails and so many hunters. Wolves are back too and they are ravenous. Rabbits, deer,and squirrels are disappearing fast. So if don’t hear from me for awhile it is because we have moved on.
Oh, I do understand. I will miss you and our lessons. Thank you for the heads up. Take care, I’ll see you when you return.
As always, interesting, pertinent information!!!