Day 341

Vulture, by Chris Williams, an artist with whom Nick is going to do his SCORE project, hopefully.  This project is a kind of apprenticeship which each senior has to do with someone in the real world of business for their last quarter of their last year.  Matthew is doing his with our doctor.

I heard about another kind of year's quest, and saw some of it on WGBH tonight.  The movie is called Alone in the Wilderness, and self-documents Richard Proenneke's quest to spend a year in the Alaskan wilderness with the minimum of supplies and tools, in 1967, at the age of 51.  It is amazing.  He was so resourceful and kept reminding me of my dad, I think my dad could have done everything he did, just from sheer strength and common sense. 

Proenneke was also terribly ill when he was young, which made him determined to be fit and healthy later in life.

He used the wood all around him for everything.  He made a mallet and also made all the handles for his tools like the axe-head etc. so that he wouldn't have to carry so much, as of course it is so much easier to pack and carry tools without handles.  He also made all his kitchen utensils and storage containers.  He built a beautiful log cabin, including wooden hinges for his door.  All his furniture, a bunk bed, chair, table etc, and all this with a  hand-saw, chisels etc, no power-tools at all.  He had to make a fireplace, a toilet, and a storage shed high up, reached by a rickety ladder.

His fridge was a hole in the ground, digging about a foot down until he found frost, then a wooden box snugly fit inside the hole, and all covered with a piece of tin and then finished off with a thick moss covering. He documented his own journey through the year, making daily journal entries and filming himself.  A quote from his journal about a windy day on the lake:  "This lake can really change its personality in a hurry, like a woman, all smiles one minute, and dancing a temper tantrum the next."  He never married.

He remained in his cabin another 35 years, only leaving when he was 82 years old, in 1998, going to join his brother for the last five years of his life.  He left his lovely home to the National Parks Trust. 

He seemed like such a gentle man, a true conservationist, taking pleasure in all the life around him, hunting for his food, but feeling sadness for having to kill the beautiful creatures.  He has amazing footage of animals like the caribou with their strange and awkward antlers, crazy bull moose exfoliating their velvet covered racks, leaving bloody wrappings, like old ripped up clothing, hanging on the old branches etc it has been rubbing its head on.  There are images of a wolverine playing, as it has been discovered many animals do.  The strange and elusive creature had made a kind of slide in the snow down a hill, and was having a wonderful time sliding and rolling down the snowy slope! 

What an incredibly ambitious year's project his was!  I don't think I could have done what he did.  Well, maybe I could have, but I'll just stick to my little run and drawing each day, thinking about the world, feeling elation, outrage, consternation, delight, curiosity, and striving for grace and wisdom.

Tree- monoprint.