I'm proud to say, I've been able to continue my run of "green" weeks so far for my 52nd year...
...and that's partly because: I'M GOING TO BE A VOLUNTEER AT TOM BROWN, JR'S TRACKER SCHOOL! YEAH!
That's right. I have been accepted to volunteer for the "Standard" Course, May 7-13th, at the Primitive Camp in Waretown, NJ. En route, I'll be stopping to visit my friend, Ilona, in Maryland, and on my way back, I'll be visiting with my friend Tom and his family in Pennsylvania. Although I've checked the long-term weather forecasts, which look good for most of the trip. The last few days might be a bit rainy, so I haven't scheduled any other camp-outs or park visits on the way back...but we'll see? That may change in the next 10 days!
So there has been a lot to do to get ready for a return to Tracker School. I bought a good quality, four-season tent from REI a while back, but it was at a "garage sale" event and the tent was damaged. It originally had a clear plastic window of some kind in the front alcove covering of the tent fly, and, apparently, the previous owners had some kind of heat source under it and melted it away! Since the fabric is coated, I had a bit of trouble finding an adhesive to stick clear polyvinyl to coated nylon. This was my first attempt, and it looked fine at first...
...and then peeled right off again!
So I eventually had to come up with something a little more involved...creating a double sided binding from nylon taffeta off an old umbrella, and sewing it all together. So now my "portal" window has more of a frame around it.
Maybe not quite as neat as the first time, but it will hold better than glue.
In addition to issues with the window, the old seam sealer was cracked a peeling from everywhere. I've had to scrape that off and apply new sealant, some more of which I'm waiting to arrive from Amazon tomorrow to finish the job.
One of my other projects was making a set of moccasins. I couldn't find any good pieces of leather, so I decided to go with a basic kit. Unfortunately, my feet have really spread as I have aged and I have significant bunions on my big toes. Kind of runs in my family. So even the "Large" kit didn't give me enough space across the toes. Rather than give up, I bought a small kit as well. Used the bottom from the large one as the sole, and the bottom of the small kit for the upper toe/tongue area, with a little trimming. The holes were already punched to match, except for the ones for the string across the instep. Yah, they came out a little loose, but I'll manage. And I can get a thick sock in there with them if I want to! (And now I have some smaller leather scraps to play with as well.)
In addition to the above, I put a new zipper in my old bicycle raincoat, and cleaned it, my pants, and hiking boots before re-waterproofing them. I've sorted through some of my older clothes, including my old swimsuit from my days in the Navy...which I think I wore once while I was in boot camp. Turns out...it still fits! And rather comfortably as well! So that will also be coming with me on this trip.
I still have several other little projects, and a couple of reversible capes to leave behind for my friend Ken...from the Long Hunter group I mentioned in this post. He's running an auction to raise funds for Logan Station and I offered to contribute these a while back.
Of course, I also needed a new backpack to put all of my gear in and I found what I think might turn out to be the perfect one for me. I took advantage of a recent REI sale on this Deuter Transit 65 Travel Pack. It features an height-adjustable harness and a detachable mini back-pack that has already worked really well for a trail hike or two since I got it. Not too big, not too small. Just right! Furthermore, for the bigger trip I'm planning now, and for future travel, the main bag has room as well as a special cover to zip over the straps so they will not get caught in luggage racks or moving equipment at the airport. And again, the smaller outer pack can zip-off as a carry-on! I was hoping to have it all packed before this post, but I'm not quite there yet. Will let you know in my next post, how that works out!
When I wrote my last post, I had not received notice from the Tracker School yet about being accepted as a volunteer and I had another blog in mind to post for this month...Building Your Knowledge Base by Starting Local. As the librarian is shutting down the computers here...I'll have to get back to that Next Month! In the mean time...here's a plate of goodies I gathered from my front yard today:
Starting from 9 o'clock position: young Plantain leaf, two varieties of Wood Sorrel, White Clover, Thistle leaves and flowers, from 8 o'clock: Purple Violet leaves and flower, Chickweed, Henbit (a little aged), Dandelion, Pennsylvania Cress, and on the bottom, early May Apple, and older Toothwort. All of these were found around my yard! So, what's in yours?
Happy Foraging!
