The Expert Swimmer

My wife is a very smart woman, and she made an observation recently that struck me.

I have now amassed at least half a dozen books devoted to outdoor survival and backwoods living because it fascinates me. I've read almost all of them cover-to-cover. My wife noted offhandishly to a telephone chatter what I was reading about, but: "...he doesn't really do all this survival stuff - he just reads about it."

I know she meant absolutely nothing negative by it, although I think I did wince when I overheard it. It did cleave neatly the reality of what I do from the fuzzy, rose-colored jumble that dominates my frontal lobe, and how I use that wonderful rosy jumble to lie to myself. The books make it easy - since I've tried to buy quality resources, most of them have very well-written explanations and clear diagrams, and those help me fool myself into thinking that simply reading them is quite enough. Yes, that's totally sufficient, now crack a beer and turn on "Survivorman," and turn up the heat, for god's sake.

I read all these books about how things work, and they're very procedural. They're about things that someone must do before they can be appreciated, or really even be fully taught. It's like reading about swimming without getting in the water. I read and read and imagine myself doing these things - building a shelter or a figure-four deadfall trap, or even simply camping - but I so-rarely do them.

In my defense, they are things that require a commitment of time and preparation. Maybe you can slip into your backyard and put together a survival shelter from nothing in an hour, but it takes me longer. Me, I haven't got that worked out yet. Although sometimes I'll take a folding knife and build the occasional campfire in the fire pit off the side of my house (which I'm still thrilled to have), it usually doesn't go beyond that.

What I really need to do is spend about five or six hours working out some of the procedures and techniques in these things. I've practiced some of them (camp cooking, deadfall traps), and they really are a lot of fun. It just takes a departure from the norm, a bump out of the comfort zone, and god knows I'm a creature of habit.

Anyway, I guess the point of this post is that I should get off my ass, actively pursue more of the things I want to pursue, and break out of my comfortable routine. And continue to listen to my wife, who is brilliant.