Question Tree [Haiku]

one strange tree
curls like a question mark:
Autumnal forest.

Feral [Haiku]

Cow Pasture: Photo taken north of Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh on the hike to the Nareshwar Temple Group.
the pasture sprawls: 
once dull & docile cows
now have feral eyes.

5 Books to Read If You Want to Live

Taken on the Annapurna Sanctuary Trail in Nepal.

Over the years, I’ve read many books about survival in extreme or unexpected situations. Here are five of my favorites.

THE UNTHINKABLE by Amanda Ripley [Full Review]

What I like about this book: Ripley focuses heavily on the topic of mindset while exploring a wide range of survival situations from being stranded in a lifeboat to being in the Twin Towers on 9/11. It’s a fascinating – as well as educational – book.

SURVIVAL AT THE EXTREMES by Kenneth Kamler [Full Review]

What I like about this book: This book focuses on surviving in all the places humans are not adapted to, places where one cannot live for long without ongoing technological support. These places include Mt. Everest (with which the author has personal experience,) the ocean, and the harshest of deserts. Kamler is a medical doctor and the book, therefore, does a good job of explaining the limits of human physiology.

EXTREME FEAR by Jeff Wise [Full Review]

What I like about this book: Wise’s book examines how fear can work against us in challenging situations (e.g. causing one to freeze at the wrong time) and what methods have been developed to overcome such crippling or inappropriate fear responses. This book is not entirely about life-and-death survival, but it does have a lot to say that is relevant to the subject.

INTO THE WILD by Jon Krakauer [Full Review]

What I like about this book: This book is not like the others. There are no physical or mental techniques for survival described in it, nor discussions of physiology. Rather, it is an extremely well-written cautionary tale about a young man who goes out into the wilderness and gets in over his head. It is highly readable food-for-thought.

98.6 by Cody Lundin [Full Review]

What I like about this book: This is the closest thing to an actual survival manual on my list. But it’s written in conversational, folksy style that makes it easy to read, despite the daunting subject matter. As the title suggests, Lundin’s central premise is that one must keep the body burning at its appropriate temperature, or else…

BOOKS: “Swimming” by Roger Deakin

Swimming: Vintage MinisSwimming: Vintage Minis by Roger Deakin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher Site – Vintage Minis

This book contains a collection of excerpts from the book Waterlog by Roger Deakin. It’s one volume from a series of short books that contain essays, stories, poems, or book excerpts that is put out by Penguin under the imprint “Vintage Minis.” The book describes the author’s experiences of wild swimming throughout Britain. The description of nature and of the exhilarating experience of wild swimming are beautifully composed, and it’s an all-around pleasant read.

If you’re interested in wild swimming, I’d recommend this book.

View all my reviews

Hermit [Senryū]

mountain hermit
looks over the city…
turns, walks back to hut.

PROMPT: More

What could you do more of?

Walk in natural settings.

DAILY PHOTO: Watching Cloud Layers from a Mountaintop

Image

DAILY PHOTO: Desolate Beauty, Peruvian Andes

DAILY PHOTO: Scenes from the Sundarbans

Losers, Finders; Nester’s Blinders [Sonnet]

I ventured beyond civilization,
   and (by man's definition) I was lost.
 I knew no near city, state, or nation.
   Who knows what backwoods borders I'd crossed?
 I'd drifted down streams: still and rapid tossed,
   and when boat filled faster than I could bale,
 I took to foot. Onward at any cost!
   I passed over mountains and through their vales,
 and trudged the badlands, unparted by trails.
   But he who's lost is often he who finds,
 and I learned history's forfeit details
   in form of ruins in a sheltered blind. 
 Oh! What novel and beautiful sights
   are had by lost souls in eternal nights!