OUT OF THE SHADOWS

Ancient whispers in nature most of us never hear, mostly we are not listening or we don't know how .

I think its a skill many have lost or in our our lifetimes never had and were not ever aware of in the first place.

Our DNA  knows the ancient whispers, sometimes peeking through for a short time but does anyone have a clue.

Aboriginal peoples are very aware of the ancient whispers that come out of the shadows.

As many readers here know, i'm always exploring how modern humans can reach back and wake-up their wild side .

Lurking in the shadows the ancient whispers are trying to wake us up . I feel its a shame that at some point of our lives we fail to discover the wild us ,even if its just a sliver or a glimpse of what our DNA  has stored in some hidden place in our primitive brain. The richness that waits for us to discover cant wait to deliver the wildness

factor into our lives, creating the human who lives aware of what they really are, a true wild critter attuned to the natural world as we were meant to be. A fairy tale, maybe but I know way too many who have found themselves living just as close to being a natural human as is possible in a modern world without going feral, well maybe feral on weekends and for most that is a wondrous goal just knowing they have awakened the deep DNA we all have buried inside. And I don't mean some wildeyed nutjob we already have enough of those in politics. 

Freedom, yes it is true freedom we have and it makes for a better life, a completeness that many of us were lacking, I feel I'm slipping into a lecture attitude and that is far from what I'm trying to convey, so i'm going to end this article now, with I hope I didn't scare you away ....  

By Dude McLean

THE SCARE

 Today i was on the phone with an old friend and she mentioned she does not watch the news anymore because it seems all they want to do is scare us and no one knows what to believe anymore anyway. I  have to agree with her , which is why for years I  called the lie witless news the "SCARE". Makes no difference what channel you like.

       

THE CORONA has taken over our lives it seems ,at the time of this writing anyway, Im amazed at the numbers of people who were in no way prepared for an event like this , although I  should not be surprised at all. Another old friend  who is a well known survival prepper told me now he feels vindicated because for years he has asked people to prepare  now they are coming to him in droves

ordering items in droves. In my own case a few old friends made fun of me for stocking up on items and Id love to tell a few of them see I told ya but they have passed , Not from the corona but because of other issues due to old guy problems like age etc. Ya have to live long enough to be able to survive the SHTF times .Seems like a bad joke but its true.

My lady friend is not a survivalist type but is a very respected business professional who just used common sense.

I also wanted to show you that I know normal people. If you care to go back to an article I wrote on this blog in Oct 4th of 2015 , I wrote about the" real dangers in a crisis " now I  didnt mention a pandemic but the general idea was there . 

I hope you are all safe as well as your familes while the country muddles its way through this crap  My hope is that we get through this in record time and find a way to stop this ugly beast that was set upon us . 

I sure hope it was not on purpose and if it was an ACCIDENT  it sure points out why no one country should fool with any bio shit at all . 

STAY WELL   STAY SAFE

By Dude McLean

WHATCHA GONNA DO WHEN GOOGLE CRASHES

   When the day comes that Google crashes and the internet goes dark. The computers don't have anything and the cell phones won't and can't work do you have a plan and or the skills and wherewithall to get by . Will you be able to communicate with loved ones and friends or will you just sit in the dark helpless and cry. Might not be as far fetched as one might think. My feeling is it will happen in whats left of my lifetime and I'm pretty old so that means sooner than later. Oh I know some will be ready and some think they are ready but the reality of such an event is very daunting even for those who are ready much less for some who will have no clue. The no clue side is in for a rough time .

  Some will think ham radios might help but not if the repeater towers  are down. oh yes most have solar and batteries as a backup but how long will the batteries last . By the way how many of you have a ham radio or even know of anyone who has one and do you think they will let you send a message for free and just who are they

sending the message to and who will deliver said message. Most alternative forms of  communication will be by drums and runners if they are not attacked along the way  The beat of drums is a sad joke not much better than smoke signals. Im being a bit flip here but this wont be very funny . 

  If one has studied some primitive skills and owns some of those skills you will be at the least in the I might have a chance margin but even hard core practitioners will have a hard time of it. Older codgers like me really wont last all that long without help oh I own the skills but the energy level is limited. Most older folks take  meds and many without those meds will die . A harsh but a true statement. I just hope that I would have the time to pass on some of the knowledge to my loved ones so that they might maybe stand a chance in a new low tech world. 

  Well ya know I  might be wrong been wrong many times but my studies point to the down side rather than the up or positive side. hope luck is with you. Perhaps you have stocked up on some food items and other gear  that will help for a while but not for all that long. Gee isn't this fun.  

by Dude  McLean

WHY DO I DO THIS BLOG

WHY DO I DO THIS BLOG

   Over the years I have been asked why do I write the blog you don't make any money and who reads it and who are they anyway. For me it comes down to just a few things. My hope is that at least one or two will be motivated to learn some of the skills I write about. I hope a few of my writings will leave some lifetime imprint on a few folks . I hope my grandchildren will read my thoughts and at this point in my life I have one great grandson. Maybe I'm

just an old fogey who has been hit in the head a few too many times and I'm just mumbling in my beard, but I do know my kids read this thing who knows how long this internet thing will be around a year 50 years who knows I do know that in the last 20 years a lot of info has already been lost to the great internet in the sky. How to retrieve it is an unknown.

  I know it sounds all pollyanna and gee whiz but I really do hope the info found here becomes of some use to some and help them thrive. Most of what I write is not time sensitive the primitive remains pretty much the same the basics are just that the foundation and it is strong as it was 500 years ago as it is now. Okay no need to beat this to death .

 by  Dude McLean

ON BEING A MISFIT

 I feel  many of us are really misfits but we come to it too late to do anything about it.I knew I was misfit at an early age though I didn't have a name for what it was. My first day of kindergarten I left the class room and went home. I told my mom I didn't like it and I don't do naps. I do recall I felt trapped. My mom was horrified I crossed two very busy blvd's and walked almost a mile home . She took me back to school and went nutz on the teacher for letting me leave  . The teacher had no idea I was even gone. So  my education had started and things went down hill from that point on. Mostly I was bored out of my brain  and ditched or spent my time looking out of a widow . I felt boxed in 

Later on I would read a book in class . More later, enough of that for now . On escaping from the horrors of High school I was so smart I joined the Marine Corps looking back I have no idea why  I did but it was a bonehead move . I remember the DI yelling at me private dipshit you are walking not marching , well damn I thought I was marching but he didn't . I never did get it right. What I did get was I could do more push
ups than anyone  and more pull ups plus a few other things like run forever miles and miles . Not boxed in anymore when I ran . But boxed in the Corps I didn't fit the program . A misfit. I did my job but that was it no extra effort on my part . Bored again.

  It is a small wonder I got out after four years with an honorable discharge but came close to the brig more than a few times. So okay now genius what now 'i got a crappy job working in a warehouse on the loading docks .now I was married and had a little girl one of my best moves ever .But I in a box at work with a jerk for a boss . Everyone else seemed happy with the job not me though. I was the misfit .

Then followed a bunch of jobs never fit in those either... bored again. but primitive skills  were out there plus I was interested in the music biz  ended up as a music publisher and a sometimes songwriter did that for about 40 years  and it gave me the time I needed for the outdoors skills  I craved but during all of this I knew I was a misfit but by now I was proud of it  Now at almost 82  I'm still a misfit , don't like senior centers  or the so called activities I don't like games  don't play cards etc.  And those places are jammed with old farts that I never have a thing in common with. Writing and the study of primitive skills and the study of  primitive tribes from all over the world are a subject I love to  gather info about those that know me know that I have a passion for the Apache peoples  so you don't have to leave the states to study these fine examples of how to live.

 Being a misfit at times has been tough on me and my family but being a misfit is not a choice it just is . You might try and change but it will last only for a short time and then you you will relapse to the misfit monster and walk off another job. Misfits just fit in any old place as there is not a place to fit in.  Unless you get lucky like I did but you take a lot of lumps along the way so you gotta be tough and bite the well known bullet. I like being a misfit  sometimes its just fun but ya cant be worried about what others think about you its your path and at times you are the pathfinder cutting away the crap of life and creating your own life that is satisfying to you. So embrace it you misfits  I love ya.




 by Dude  McLean

ON MEETING WITH BAREFOOT TED

                                                                

   So early one evening I get a phone call from my friend Paul Campbell he is requesting me to drop whatever I'm doing and come up to his place and  meet the myth in person that is Barefoot Ted . Paul said to get my butt up to his house right now and save him as  he is being bulldozed by Ted and  he needed my help and as I would find out just a short time later the Barefoot Ted is not a big man but he is larger than life its his personality that is large .Well of course I said I would be right over as Paul lived only about 20 minutes away . Barefoot Ted is featured in Christopher  McDougalls classic book "Born to Run" . I was excited to meet the legend in person and it was a pleasure we spent a long and pleasant evening together and Paul was right Ted is a true force of nature. Looking back I think Paul was not intimidated at all but just wanted me to meet Ted

   We talked of primitive skills and barefoot running staying in good shape as we age and many other very important issues that seemed very important at the time but it was an evening I will carry with me as long as my brain functions with any clarity .  Ted has a company that makes primitive sandals called Luna based on the sandals of the copper canyon Tarahumra people. Any time one was invited to Paul's home you were expected to eat all the wonderful goodies served up by Paul and his lovely wife even after begging that you could not eat one bite more was set in front of you. 

    I found that  Ted and I had a lot in common  the three of us laughed and joked  had a great time sitting out in Paul's patio . WE traded adventure stories and one upsmanship  This was in late 2013 or early 2014  my friend Paul died in Sept of 2014 from a brain tumor. Ted and I have remained friends. 

    If you are not aware who Paul was he wrote a few books that were instant classics Survival skills of native Californians  ... the universal tool kit . and Earth pigments and paint of the California Indians  a respected primitive skills practitioner and spokesman at many museums on the early native lifeways. Barefoot Ted can be reached through his website at...https://www.barefootted.com/

       by  Dude McLean 

PREHISTORIC SURVIVAL SKILLS

                                                        PREHISTORIC SURVIVAL SKILLS 

                                                                            by DUDE MCLEAN

 

We live in a remarkable age ,for at our finger tips is an ancient world for us to discover . what took a lifetime of some of our ancestors to figure out, and perfect we can learn about it about it in a few hours of googling the subject giving us access to various methods of say, starting a fire or building a shelter and then if we go into the wild and practice what we just read about or saw on Youtube we might master the skill in a few months of intense work so what took our prehistoric ancestor a lifetime to learn and perfect we  capture the skill in far less time if we are dedicated to learning the technology . 

  In addition never before have so many skilled teachers been available to the average person . Schools are all over the world and are all over this country and many fine teachers are out there . Where in the past if a skill was shared at all it was kept within the family or within the tribe not to be shared with anyone , the information was was too important to share. Also if a new method of say starting fire was discovered one did not run out and tell others about it for it could mean life or death but in today's culture most teachers and other skilled practitioners are very generous with their knowledge . I have never run into anyone who was not willing to share any skill and some of hard won nuance that comes with the skill set.

  What we have as of now or until the internet fails is a rare ability never seen before in the known history of the world and all you have to do is take advantage of it. I do know that some are intimidated by primitive skills but believe me it is not a big deal to begin learning one step and one day at a time. after you have learned a few skills all the rest  seem to come eaiser  not that are all that hard in the first place . At first you might feel like the swell known klutz  but thats okay it will pass . However it is best if you can find a teacher as one on one works very well and you have someone right there who can guide you through some of the skills . Most important is to keep it fun and light .

  If you do decide to go prehistoric welcome to the tribe 

      by DUDE MCLEAN