Friday, 26 June 2009

• Currently My Side of the Mountain (Puffin Modern Classics) By Jean Craighead George see related

  My Side of the Mountain

   (or I should say Our Side of the Lake)

  This past year, Connor and 4 other boys participated in a book club which I led.  During the course of the year, we read a number of really good books and a couple of so-so books, but I saved one of my all-time favorites for the very end. 

   When I was a young girl, my absolute favorite book was My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George.  I vividly remember reading the book 13 times and desperately wanting to see if I could survive off the land.  Fortunately, I had a Dad who was willing to indulge this desire (so I didn't have to run away from home ).  One weekend he took me to  the Allegheny Mountains in upstate New York (where we owned about 80 acres of land ).  There he let me "survive" in the woods by myself while he stayed nearby in our tiny cabin/shack.  I spent most of the weekend searching (albeit rather unsuccessfully) for food. I quickly learned that wild onions are not very filling and the root of Queen Anne's lace tastes a bit like muddy carrots or parsnips.  During one of the nights I slept out under the stars, I had a raccoon crawl on top of my sleeping bag.  I was excited, but a tad bit scared, as I laid there absolutely still.  Needless to say, it was a grand adventure for a young girl, but by the end of the weekend, I was one hungry camper.

  Well flash forward many years.  I wanted my son and his friends to also have a wilderness-like experience.  So for our final book club meeting of the year, I invited the boys over for an adventure sleepover.

  The afternoon started off fairly mild with a swim in our lake.  The kids were hot and they wanted to cool off.  Afterwards, it was time to learn some "survival skills." 

  

   

  Bob taught them how to shoot a bow and arrow.

  

  

  

   

  In fact, he made a few targets and organized a little competition between the boys. 

      

   

  They shot for Bionicles--which as you might imagine, was a great motivator for a group of 8 year old boys.

  

   

  Connor wound up getting the highest score, but everyone went away a winner.

  

   

  Next up, Bob taught the boys riflery and they all got to try out Connor's Red Ryder BB gun.

  

   

  It was then time to burn off some energy, so they spent the next hour or so jumping on the trampoline.

  

   

  The boys then set up the tent (which wasn't exactly Sam Gribley's hollowed out Hemlock Tree ), but it was shelter nonetheless.

  

   

  After dinner and sunset, I taught them how to build a campfire.  They were able to get one going and roasted up marshmallows and s'mores.

  

   

  The next morning everyone was up early and fishing by 7:00 a.m..  The boys caught enough fish to eat for breakfast, but we released them all instead.

  

   

  Afterwards it was time to go on a hike to gather some more food for breakfast.

  

   

  Fortunately, we had chocolate chip pancakes as a back-up, because the boys didn't quite pick enough blackberries to feed everyone (although we did manage to get one blackberry pancake out of it ).

  

   

  On the other hand, they caught a couple of turtles which (in theory) we could have eaten if we were REALLY, REALLY desperate.  However we weren't, so instead we just played with them for a bit before releasing them back into the lake.  

  

  After all that activity, the boys were ready for another dip in the lake. 

  

   

  By 11:00 a.m., everyone was on their way home and at 11:30 a.m., this is how I found Connor.

  

  Apparently, wilderness survival is exhausting.

   

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