I consider myself an avid reader. Maybe not to the standards of those who have the gift of getting lost to every available moment to read more than a hundred (or more) books a year, no, not that many. Not even close. I like to devour books but need to take the time to think on them and mull over their ideas and their structure, their characters and how they made me feel. I like to think of it as an equivalent to eating. Some readers devour stories like vampires with only the stack of finished corpses to satisfy them but I like to chew on them awhile and enjoy the taste.
Usually, the type of books I like to ready are mostly fiction and if it's Stephen King (whether you like him or not) everything goes to the back of the line. A good horror/ thriller is top notch for me but the really good ones are few and far between in my humble opinion. There are a good handful of course but those stories take a good amount of time to cultivate.
While I'm waiting for the next good one, I decided to try something different. An autobiography of sorts called The Lonely Land by Sigurd F. Olson and I have to say it's wonderful.
So a little back story here. Lately, I've been watching a plethora of Youtube videos of bushcraft channels and just can't get enough. If you're not familiar with what Bushcraft is here's a simple idea: it is self reliance and survival in the depths of nature. But, there's something deeper to it I think. There's a connection to Creation that I believe society as a whole has become blinded to; a beauty that we cannot see anymore because of all the distractions of phones and Netfilx and working paycheck to paycheck. There's a simplicity to this that shows what we really need and what is truly "necessary" to live and live happily.
While watching one of my favorite channels (sorry I don't remember which one) I have noticed several books that these guys are reading as they spend their quiet nights alone. The Lonely Land was one of them so I ordered a copy of ebay and am already about half through it. What a wonderful change of pace. And, although the book was written in the sixties, there is an absolute simplistic beauty in the journey that one can both see and feel. It causes the heart to yearn for such things. Deep down a man wants to journey in search of such beauty and adventure. He wants to see all that was put before him and be a part of it all.
Perhaps, some day, I will answer that calling. Perhaps that adventure awaits for me to see the sun set and rise with only the distant horizon to stand in my way.
Seek the wild.
