21 Comments

Wow, this is really cool! I was not aware of this movement prior to your newsletter. Kudos from trying something different. Where in NB was this held?

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Thanks, Mark. I wasn’t aware until 6 weeks ago? It was in Lower Hainesville, about 20 min from the Mactaquac Dam. Green Hill Lake Camp.

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Pretty darned rural!

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Oh yeah. You ever been in that area? Was my first time!

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Driven through that area or somewhere similar nearby.

Have a good one!

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Sounds like a blast

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Thanks, Tom. It was pretty cool.

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Do you suppose there’s a gender-reversed equivalent? And if so, what would they teach ...? (I’m trying to ask myself if I’d go to this, but honestly, I don’t think most of the female-associated activities exclude men in the same way.)

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You know, I was wondering that, too. I think you’re right...? Cooking and baking at least seems to have gained more gender equity (probably thanks to the Food Network and the stable of celebrity chefs). Maybe sewing? Crafting like needlework or fibre arts? Those still seem to be quite gendered.

And to be honest, I’ve never felt the stigma with outdoors activities that my camp mates might have felt, but I grew up with a dad who drove me to both dance lessons and to softball. When people asked him if one of his girls would take on his construction business when he retires, he always says no, but not because we couldn’t. Because none of us were that interested in it!

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Yeah, I think you’re right--men have invaded the kitchen pretty thoroughly, but not so much sewing and needlework.

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LOVED THIS, Bryn!!! (I do NOT want to meet an eel.)

Dad keeps bees - my brother and I used to love extracting the honey when we were little! We'd be in charge of turning the handle to make the barrel spin, and we'd be fending off any bees that had followed the scent of their honey right into the kitchen. It's interesting, actually - Dad a) doesn't like eating honey, b) is allergic to bee stings and c) nevertheless LOVES keeping bees.

c) has always won!

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Oh wow - a beekeeper with an allergy is brave! Our fellow said he’s not but still keeps epipens on site just in case, for him and his workers.

Do you not have eels in England? Lucky!

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We do have eels in England, absolutely! In fact, 'jellied eels' is a delicacy STILL SERVED in east London.... I'll just leave that with you! 👀 (I've never met one up close, though, jellied or otherwise.)

Dad's not allergic to the point of anaphalaxis - it's more of a take-a-Piriton-and-go-to-bed-for-the-rest-of-the-day kind of thing, thank goodness!

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*do not Google jellied eels do not Google jellied eels do not Google jellied eels do not Google jellied eels*

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Couldn't resist liking this, solely for the playful title! What a great experience. When our daughter was young, she was fairly bug phobic. After a stint as a youth counselor; she was eating earthworms on a dare! Enjoy your humorous style and thanks for bringing us along!

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Thank you for reading!! 🙌🩷

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Amazing, fair play! Thomas' research findings definitley resonate, I find myself more interested in non-competitive survival skills like foraging, not that I have many survival skills at all but I'm inspired to learn more after reading this!

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Thanks for reading, Pamela! They had a session on foraging and was tempted. Would be interested to hear more about what you learn ☺️

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Ooh it's always hard to choose between all the sessions on offer at those kind of events!

I've started recently with reading Tristan Gooley's The Walker's Guide to Outdoor Signs and Clues because it can be applied to any area so I can start from right here in the burbs 🤞

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Adding that to the (growing) list of books to read! Sounds really interesting 🙂

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