It wasn't until I came across his book in grade school, that I really began to daydream about my relationship with the outside world around me. It took a story about Sam Gribley, a runaway from New York City, to show me how intimate the outdoor world could be.
I swung by my parent's house a week or so ago, and I found the book on the shelf in my old bedroom. I find it funny that such a short book can be the reason I have practically fantasized that I was Will Smith from "I am Legend" or Tom Hanks in "Castaway."
Long ago, David sat reading "My Side of the Mountain" and believed that could be me. I could hollow out a tree. Learn to live off that land. Find peace in the noises of the forrest. But when it came time to commit and really run away, I got only as far as those before me. I packed my ninja turtle suitcase, considered the inconvenience of having to come home to make my daily peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and decided it wasn't worth the effort.
I think that is why, whenever I read about someone else's grand, outdoor journey, get a chance to sit in the quite of the wilderness, or see a photo that transports me to a place of untouched beauty and solitude, I simultaneously feel at home and a pang of longing to be closer to the wild. Closer to the Earth and her animals. Further from fumes and concrete. I love the natural world, and always wish I could be as close to it as Sam Gribley.
If you get a chance this summer, read it again or for the first time. Maybe read or give it to a child. It has directly and indirectly given me so much joy, I can hardly believe it.
Let me take a moment to point out the title of this post. "In Which I Re-discover a Book that Changed My Life." I didn't say "the" book that changed my life. I acknowledge there are many more books important to me.
Do you have a book or story that impacted you unlike any other?
This is one of the books that had the biggest impact on my childhood, and thus life, as well (and I am honored to be linked in this post...mentioned in the same paragraph as Jean Craighead George...holy cow! ). I tried hollowing out a tree once. I wanted to get into falconry. I are berries that in hindsight I probably should not have. I bought a mountain cabin and have a long commute, just to have "my side of a mountain."
ReplyDeleteGreat writing. A very powerful post!
I also was impacted by "I Heard the Owl Call My Name" by Margaret Craven, and another of Jean Craighead George's "Julie of the Wolves."
Awesome post! It's a great thing to be able to look back with the clarity that comes with age and realize how something like a book can make such a large impact on your life. I remember re-reading "Hatchet" a couple summers ago on a float trip in northern Ontario, and thinking back to when I was younger and how much I wanted to be a part of that story. Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer will always be books I re-read and think of often. "White Fang" and "The Call of the Wild" are a coupe more...Can't wait to get home to dust some of these off
ReplyDeleteI have a few. One was "Gifts of an Eagle" by Kent Durden, a book I read in grade school about a falconer and his adventures with an eagle. I don't know why it made such an impression, but it's a good story. Like you said, that's just one book... an early one... there have been a bunch since.
ReplyDeletee - I'll have to check out those this summer. I haven't heard of either. See, I'm already glad I called you out on this post. Teaching me things already.
ReplyDeleteSanders -It sounds like we are seeing eye-to-eye. Hatchet is another great one. I have very vivid memories of my first time reading that and the failed attempt to get my mom to buy me a hatchet afterward. no dice. You have to love Tom and Huck.
Jay - That is another new one to me. Thanks for sharing. I'll have to look into it. it is great to know that you all have stories that are just as special to you.
Thanks all!
d nash- I tried the same thing, except with a Rambo sized hunting knife...needless to say my mom put her foot down.
ReplyDeletesanders - I love it.
ReplyDelete