Fall is on the horizon, it's been a great summer.
Fall is creeping back, nights are beginning to get cooler and daylight is shorter and shorter with each passing on the calendar. This summer has been filled with great adventure, time spent with family and time spent in the wilderness. At Modern Wild Man I strive for time in the out of doors. Nature and wilderness bring a sense of wholeness to a man, it helps to provide for a peace or maybe a reconciliation with yourself.
This summer I stepped away from the Modern Wild Man blog for a little while and focused on fatherhood, manhood and husbandry. Fortunately I was able to spend time this summer on the prairie, in the north woods and in the mountains. I have traveled miles carried by boots laced tight on snow packed trails, by canoe pulled for days by a silent paddle and across open fields of grass in the saddle this summer.
So many experiences; so many thoughts about life, family and faith. Thoughts to share about conservation and wild places, about raising boys and slowing down. My pen and my journal are full and Modern Wild Man is back on the agenda.
The clarity of extended time in wild places seems to act like both an eraser and a magnifying glass. When you slow down and find yourself surrounded by wilderness the distractions of modern life and conveniences seem to blur, to fall out of focus and then like a big pink rubber eraser finally they are rubbed out. At the same time the focus of wilderness is like a magnifying glass, bringing small details and commonly unnoticed items of life into a sharp focus. The smell of a split piece of firewood, the sound of raindrops on a canoe bow, even the smallest folded blade of green grass on a rocky trail struggling for the warmth of summer become like folded photographs. Photographs put away in our minds on our adventures, taken in and sorted ready to shine again on a gloomy day remembered by a whiff of a fainting aroma or rhythm that reminds us that we need to get back, back to a wilderness.
Stay tuned my friends, I hope to embark with you on many adventures...
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| Modern Wild Man in the saddle. |
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