Monthly Archives: December 2022

Miscellaneous Writings, and Thoughts of The Day

On The Land

On The Land

For me, being on the land means being Home in Nature – away from the synthetic world of make believe. It is a place of belonging, a place we all connect to at some level, a place all the human race once began, and a few remaining, still choose to live in connection with Nature, to all life. It is their Home and a place where their ancestors remain, and the spirits reside.

I heard this phrase, “on the land” from an Australian Aboriginal man on a television program I was watching. And it stuck with me, because it described so much of what Nature is. It’s meaning does not mean one thing or one place, but many meanings and places.

My canine companions, Takota and Nanook (Native American Indian Dogs) and I have been on a journey in Nature since the end of October 30, 2017. Our travels began in Northern California, heading North to Oregon and Washington. We then took a detour right into Idaho. Our original destination was Alaska.

For our stay in the first three states, we camped in a tent in State Parks for the most part because they were the only camping areas open in the winter with the exception of KOA’s . When we reached Idaho, we continued our stay in some State Parks and some National Forest campgrounds while planning our summer months in the Wilderness and backcountry for the maximum stay allowed in each area. Then in the winter of 2018, we stayed in Kamiah, Idaho and set up camp at a persons property for the full winter and again, in a tent.

On The Land can envision many things to many people. It can conjure up feelings of beauty, peacefulness, or tranquility to those Nature lovers, a place for spiritual connection and revitalization with Nature, or a place for recreation for the outdoors minded. It can mean a place to grow food or viewed as a natural resource for progress and profit.

For indigenous cultures it means the sacred, a place of where they were created, a resting place of the ancestors.

The disrespect and destruction of the sacred lands and sacred sites of the Native peoples of the world that has been part of their cultures for thousands of years – a place of dance, song, ceremony and story telling, is constantly being threatened by those who have no connection to land.

An Australian aboriginal man who taught in the city of Melbourne left the city life to return to the land, to his family, to his ancestors.

This is what he said about his decision to leave the city and move back into the bush.

“This is home, this is reality. In the city they believe in the modern endings, in materialistic things, cars, houses, money. There is the land, back on the land, its not materialistic, its been there since the beginning of time. It will always provide for you. The towns and cities are make believe. That is why I come back, this is why I come back.”

This is how most traditional indigenous cultures see the land and the modern world. The difference is like night and day. Not long ago a man from Australia told me that the aborigines were stupid. No it is not the aborigines that are stupid, it is the modern world who believes it is okay to trash the land and show her disrespect.

Indigenous cultures are rapidly losing their cultures, their traditions, their way of life because of the greed of modern day man. And most do not care because we are so caught up in our destructive materialistic lives we can’t see the damage we are creating for all life. What is sad is that only indigenous people would understand what this aboriginal man is saying. For the modern day man, not so much, because he is living a life of make believe.

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Miscellaneous Writings, and Thoughts of The Day

Our Land

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Our Land

When I hear traditional Hawaiian music in the Hawaiian language, I feel a sense of home, I feel connected to the Hawaiian people, to the Hawaiian culture and to the islands. I can feel the warm tropical breezes, smell the beautiful scent of Hawaii, hear the ocean waves crashing and see the diverse ecosystems of the islands. There music reflects their gods, their ancestors, their culture, their people, the land and the ocean.

Once when I was in Hawai’i on the Big Island, I was with a girl friend and we walked across the floor of a volcanic crater. When I reached the center of the crater I heard a Hawaiian male singing the Pele’ chant on the distant rim of the volcano crater. A strange thing happened to me when I heard that voice, I felt it resonating in my being, in my soul and at that moment I felt like falling to my knees in reverence to the god, Pele’. This was the first time I had ever experienced a spiritual connection with another culture – seeing and feeling what Native Hawaii’s must have been like prior to the devastating invasion of whites to their lands. It was magical, beautiful and a wonderful spiritual experience for me. One I will never forget.

One song that I really felt a connection with was the song, “Hawai’i 78” and one of the people who brought the song into popularity was Israel Kamakawiwo’ole, known as IZ. He was a popular Hawaiian singer who’s music touched the Hawaiian people, performing songs that were about his people and his culture. The Native Hawaiian’s love IZ for what he represented – the true spirit of Hawai’i, the Aloha Hawai’i.

When I first heard this song and really listen to the words, I felt tears starting to fall from my cheeks. I experienced and felt this song and what its meaning was for the Hawaiian people. I have provided the lyrics to this song below:

Hawai’i 78

Ua mau, ke ea o ka aina, i ka pono, o Hawai’i Ua mau, ke ea o ka aina, i ka pono, o Hawai’i (The Life of the Land is Perpetuated in Righteousness)

If just for a day our King and Queen, Would visit all these islands and saw everything How would they feel about the changes of our land

Could you just imagine if they were around And saw highways on their sacred grounds How would they feel about this modern city life

Tears would come from each others eyes As they would stop to realize That our people are in great great danger now

All the fighting that the king had done To conquer all these islands now there’s condominiums How would he feel if he saw Hawai’i nei

How, would they feel, would they smile, be content, or just cry

Cry for the gods, cry for the people Cry for the land that was taken all away And then bid goodbye Hawai’i

Could you just imagine if they came back And saw traffic lights and railroad tracks How would they feel about this modern city life

Tears would come from each others eyes As they would stop to realize That our land is in great great danger now

All the giving that she had done She gave all her love to everyone How would she feel if she saw Hawai’i nei

How would they feel, would they smile, be content, or just cry

Cry for the gods, cry for the people Cry for the land that was taken all away And then bid goodbye Hawai’i

Ua mau, ke ea o ka aina, i ka pono, o Hawai’i Un mau, ke ea o ka aina, i ka pono, o Hawai’i

The only way I began understanding the many indigenous cultures was to try and feel what they felt, see what the saw, experienced what they experienced both good and bad.

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Miscellaneous Writings, and Thoughts of The Day

We Did Know This At One Time.

We have been conditioned in the modern world to believe in a very limited way. We have been taught that the human species is the supreme intelligence. Our minds have been closed off in this way of thought. In this human arrogance and conditioning, we have closed the door to the vast intelligence that is all around us – in every life form. In the plants, in the trees, among all the animals, in all the inanimate life forms we perceive has no intelligence at all. Do we truly know this? Do we truly know and understand the world and all it’s life forms we share our planet with? We maybe good at knowing these things on the surface, by being able to label them. But how many of us experience them deeply? We gloss over the deep beauty in all life. It becomes just a snap shot in our minds, and from that we think we know it, and understand it. But we don’t. By only going deep into our connection and relationship with all life can we begin to understand. The indigenous peoples of the world have known this for tens of thousands of years. We did know this once, but have forgotten. We have forgotten that we cannot live on an unhealthy planet. And that is what we have done to her. But there are so many who still do not understand this. We continue to take from her without giving back. Giving back to the very thing that gives life to all life. But many of us have been blinded in a false dream that we are not willing to wake up from. Because we are consumed with the false hope that having more stuff can make our lives fulfilling, and end all suffering. It won’t, and will only causes more suffering, not just to us, but for all life.

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Miscellaneous Writings, and Thoughts of The Day

A Morning In Nature

December 4, 2017

Winter is here. This morning I woke up to clear skies, 32 degrees F, frost on the ground, biting cold in the air and a chill in my bones and feet. And I love being in it, being in nature and experiencing these special moments with my dogs.

When it is this cold every source of warmth is welcome. A warm fire, warm clothing, the warmth from the Coleman stove, hot coffee and the warmth of the sun once it rises above the foothills.

This is just part of what most people miss being in nature and that is truly experiencing nature and adapting.

While I am writing this it is indicating 70 deg. F in the tent. I am outside writing this with hands freezing cold and the wind chill way below 70 deg. But this is why I am here – to experience nature.

I thought I would check the outside temp and it was 56 deg. With a wind chill factor probably in the low 40’s

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Miscellaneous Writings, and Thoughts of The Day

Why is the human race…

Why is the human race that has been given so much, in things, in stuff, and in wealth, allowing hunger, deep suffering, loss of any hope, and death, to so many people in our world.

Peoples who have been stripped away of their own cultures, traditions, and spiritual beliefs, of their sacred lands, because it is not what we believe, or choose not to understand?

It is like not truly understanding those things that gives life to all life – like the air, the water, the earth, and fire – to all life. We choose to disrespect these things, because we choose not to fully understand them on a much deeper level, and understanding.

Why is it that we allow those consumed with Greed, power, and selfishness over others, over the health of our planet be continued?

Could it be possible that we dream of these same traits of inhumanity?

We have lost the very essence of who we truly are – the essence of pure unconditional love for all life.

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Miscellaneous Writings, and Thoughts of The Day

All Life Is A Gift, And A Miracle

In all that we experiences with our five senses:

Touch, Sight, Hearing, Smell, and Taste. This includes the sense of space, and the breath of life.

All life is a gift, it is a miracle in all of creation. Everything in Nature are miracles that fills our sense with wonder, if we just be still and experience the beauty of creation. I was watching the creation of human life from fertilization to birth. This was truly a magical, and miraculous experience.
All life, all life, in the beginning unfolds into a miracle of life. We can see this in a blade of grass, in a flower, in an insect, or animal. We can see in the the mountains, rivers, lakes, and oceans. We can experience it in the clouds floating by, or in a rain drop, or snow flake, or in the moon, sun, or in the billions, trillions of glistening stars that give us awe, and wonder.

Just be silent, and look, listen, and experience the miraculous in all life forms. Then say, “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

All life is Sacred.

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Miscellaneous Writings, and Thoughts of The Day

The Call Of The Wild

Photo by patrice schoefolt on Pexels.com

The Call Of The Wild

By Rick Theile

Our hike was about four and a half miles from the Sawtooth Lodge, Grandjean, where we were preparing for our departure into the Sawtooth Wilderness. It would be our first venture into the wilds of the Idaho backcountry.

We hiked in, me and my two canine companions, Takota and Nanook (Native American Indian Dogs), June 28, 2018, on a Thursday. We had our food and gear packed in by the Outfitter at the Lodge, requiring six pack animals total. The Outfitter would return in five days dropping off the rest of our food supply to us. We would stay at one camp for sixteen days—alone.

Our camp was on the Northern edge of the Sawtooth mountains, about a half mile up from the South Fork of the Payette River and about 300 feet elevation higher than the river. The Outfitter had been to this camp before—I hadn’t. He told me it would be easy to find and if you go beyond Minks Creek, you went too far. Our camp was right next to Minks Creek that was hidden mostly by thick vegetation, and no more than a couple of feet in width. This small trickle of a creek would be our drinking water source.

Before we left, I asked the Outfitter what critters we might encounter such as mountain lions, bears, or wolves. He said, “wolves, and I hope you are bringing a weapon, they will kill your dogs.” For some reason, I didn’t think wolves would be much of a threat.

On our 11th day out, I was getting some water from the creek and left the dogs tied up in camp. They usually come with me. Both began howling as they tend to do if I leave them alone. Back at camp, shortly after getting water from the creek, I heard wolves howling down in the Big Meadow about a half mile away from us that was just adjacent to the river.

With the thick vegetation that was all around us, it would be easy for the wolves to sneak up on us silently unseen—I had thought. I got my guns ready for any probable encounter and kept the dogs tied up. Things were quiet, eerily quiet, too quiet. I was a bit concerned, not knowing what the wolves would do. Would they come up to check us out or stay in the meadow? On occasion, we would hear the choirs of howls from the meadow. I was happy they weren’t coming any closer for a visit.

All afternoon and evening I kept a close watch on the areas around us. They could come in from any direction, and I wouldn’t know it, but hoping my dogs would.

We went to bed, and I was still thinking about the wolves and what they might do. Would they come into our camp because of the dogs, or just to check us out, or would they leave us alone knowing a human was there? The thoughts were always running through my mind with, what if’s. I did not want to shoot a wolf, but if I had to, I would shoot to scare them and would that be enough to stop them in their tracks? I had no idea, especially with a pack of wolves with possibly young ones with them they would want to protect.

Listening for any strange sounds and watching the dogs to see if they were hearing anything in the darkness of night, I heard Nanook get up and walk to the entrance of the tent—Takota, quietly laying in his bed. Nanook then began following something he heard outside from inside of the tent moving from the front to the side and then to the rear of the tent. I was thinking, could it be the wolves? I then heard directly behind us and very close, a wolf or two howling. That got me concerned, thinking, what are they going to do? The howling of wolves were then all around us. The howling persisted for a time, then stopped. It was an awesome experience listening to them, but also disconcerting at the same time.

In late morning the next day, we heard a distant howling from down at the river. I sensed they were leaving the area. After a couple of days of observing the region, they were indeed gone.

It was indeed an incredible experience and was the call of the wild.

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