Essential Knife Skills

| April 21, 2011

If you spend any time here, you’ll know that Mrs. LFM and I enjoy good food and drink, and for us, cooking is a passion. Speaking for myself though, I enjoy cooking most when it involves knife work. It’s said that a much handled tool takes on the soul of its master. There’s a truth […]

To Be Or Not To Be

A Guest Post By Eric E. Noeldechen

| April 17, 2011

Editor’s Note: Not unlike my own self, my esteemed friend Eric Noeldechen takes an old school approach to the basics of life. At the end of the day, while new tools may come along, the basics never change, which is why they are called “basics”. Eric is a husband, father, Scout Leader, craftsman of fine […]

Lighting Fire With Grapefruit – Too Cool Not To Share

| April 11, 2011

YouTube is a cornucopaea of tutorials, and just as a picture speaks a thousand words, watching somebody do a thing beats reading about it pretty much every time. My interest in bushcraft combined with my propensity for serendipity led me the subject of today’s post and, while it’s not about a skill exactly, it presents […]

Build Your Own Nuclear Reactor – Well, Not Really

| March 29, 2011

My first article in this three part series, titled Bullshit Alert – Since 11 March 2011, If You’ve Ever Even Heard of Japan, You’ve Been Exposed dealt with my observations on the ass covering passed off as public information releases that have been streaming out of Japan since the 11 March earthquake and subsequent tsunami […]

Blessed By Birch and Eagle

| March 27, 2011

Let children walk with Nature, let them see the beautiful blendings and communions of death and life, their joyous inseparable unity, as taught in woods and meadows, plains and mountains and streams of our blessed star, and they will learn that death is stingless indeed, and as beautiful as life. ~ John Muir The twenty-fourth […]

Radiation – Let’s Get It Straight

| March 20, 2011

Yesterday’s article, Bullshit Alert – Since 11 March 2011, If You’ve Ever Even Heard of Japan, You’ve Been Exposed, introduced this and the article that follows, and explained my motivation for writing both. If you haven’t yet read my intro, please go and do so now before coming back here and moving forward. Media coverage […]

Bullshit Alert – Since 11 March 2011, If You’ve Ever Even Heard of Japan, You’ve Been Exposed

| March 19, 2011

As the late unpleasantness in and around Japan continues to unfold, I’m seeing more and more media coverage that has a net information content of zero. On at least two cases, rather than informed, I actually felt stupider after listening to it. The constant soothing wordage and disclaimers like “slightly radioactive material” and “a small […]

Reality Check

| March 17, 2011

While representing a bottomless pit of unreality, the internet can still be relied on as a source of Reality and Truth for those prepared to unflinchingly see Nature as She is, and not filtered through rose coloured glasses. The only way the lion will ever lay down with the lamb is so it can be […]

Spring

| March 6, 2011

Oddly enough, this poem was born from an intention to write something with a pretty beginning that set the reader up for a funny punch line involving the way Spring unveils just how much frozen dog shit has been slumbering under the snow and ice in our yard, and that blessed day when Nature does […]

Bush Skills Don’t Come Easy

| February 25, 2011

Growing up with a burning interest in living safely and well outside of the comforting arms of “civilization”, I spent a lot of time learning and mastering my skills one at time so I knew they wouldn’t fail me when I needed them to live. More than half a century worth of winters down the […]