Two years ago, it was small. Just a glimmer of an idea. Nothing more than a flicker of movement, caught out of the corner of my mind’s eye. Bold one moment, it would dash into full view like a blustery red squirrel. Furtive the next moment, it would skitter off into the mental underbrush. (I [...]
Posts Tagged ‘agriculture’
Hunting with Gandhi
In college, studying Mahatma Gandhi’s moral and political philosophy, I was impressed by the twin commitments of his lifelong quest for truth. On the one hand, he lived according to what he saw as the truth, which must, he wrote, “be my beacon, my shield and buckler.” On the other hand, he had the humility [...]
Ceremony for a meal
Kneeling beside my first deer, I had no words. I just sat there stunned, my hand on his shoulder, uncertain whether I would ever hunt again. Finally, I whispered something clumsy: half gratitude, half apology. The next year, when my second deer dropped in his tracks, I was shaken but less shocked. I spoke my [...]
Blueberries and venison: The gift of wild foods
Cath and I looked at the ground in surprise. We had visited this rocky hilltop many times. It was here, some eight years earlier, that I had asked her to marry me. We had often seen these low bushes clinging to the meager soil. We had never seen them fruiting. The patch of green leaves [...]
‘I could definitely kill one of those’
The timing was dead-on. Just as I walked past the table, the woman said, “My rule is, ‘I’ll only eat it if I could kill it.’ And I could definitely kill one of those.” I left the restaurant chuckling. I was thinking how the line echoed one of my reasons for taking up hunting: to [...]