Absorbing Wilderness Lore–Write What You Know

From 1949-1952, boxes of  Nabisco Shredded Wheat cereal containedStraight Arrow wilderness survival cards. Some were still around when I grew up. Straight Arrow was a Native American boy who solved outdoor challenges with good survival tips. 

Around that time in Washington State a teenage girl got separated from her family and lost for days while Christmas tree hunting and lost for days before being found. Newscasters said she would have thrived if she’d had a piece of string and a safety pin for fishing. For years, I carried those items in my pocket along with a magnifying glass for fire building.

Learning our mom was 1/64 Ojibway sealed the deal. That’s a small percentage, but wilderness ways were in our blood. Mom and her mom were avid gardeners and made me their helper. I studied edible plants and the medicinal uses of others. I learned the footprints of many animals and to glide along forest paths silently.

Our hometown being at the end of The Oregon Trail fascinated and shaped us. Today one of my sons is a doctor but also a master survivalist firebuilder. The other is also a doctor and capable outdoors, too. I mastered building snow shelters and once in the Canadian Rockies camped out at -20 F during the coldest, most miserable night of my life—an adventure I will never repeat.

Our family was proud that Dr. John and Marguerite McLoughlin y crossed the continent to settle the area that became our hometown. It was easy to get curious enough to research their lives.

Experts say to ‘Write what we know’. For me that made loving and writing Marguerite McLoughlin’s story. It fit like a hand in a glove. I’ve begun its sequel and am listening carefully for other future books ideas that are as good a fit as writing Wilderness Wife.  It’s getting great reviews. I think my enjoyment is shining through.

What about you? What intrigues you that you should research a little more and write about? Please comment, and have fun pursuing it!