So Ian, Andrew and I spent most of the day yesterday in rainy forest park...and I have to say, nothing beats being under Douglas fir pines and cedars in the rain, with two other rewilders; one of whom was four...
Some folks would probably say it is irresponsible to have a four year old out in the rain all day, but I subscribe to the notion that it is essential to sometimes take your four year old out in the rain all day...besides, my little sister Ruth often followed her big sisters out in all kinds of weather in Upstate New York when she was four...I spent my entire childhood outdoors for the majority of the time (when I wasn't in school,) and I think that contributed greatly to the person I am today; and my love of all things wild, including other wild people.
And what better way to learn rewilding then in the temperate rainforest surrounding Portland? And how can you ever learn to enjoy the rain if you don't see the green that the rain provides? Right now is one of the greenest times of the year in forest park; it is absolutely magic, like a fairy world, and it seemed even more magic stumbling across one of the many camps of the new-age Robin Hoods...a little blue tent with a flickering candle inside, just one of the many refugees to the wild who leave the city for the beauty of forest park...the sorts of people who live in forest-park are indeed one of the modern Robin Hoods, because they are living inside corporate land, owned by Nike Corporation (a while back, Nike Corporation purchased Forest-Park from Portland because Portland can no longer afford the upkeep of the trails of the largest metropolitan forested park in North America.) So essentially, these everyday bandits and troublemakers are living inside a corporation; shitting and fucking and smoking weed inside the private property of Nike Incorporated. Ian and I turned Andrew around on the trail...we wanted to leave the bandits in the blue tent in peace...after all, it isn't wise to sneak up on Robin Hood or his Merry Men. The Merry Men of Forest-Park can often be seen in downtown Portland as well; with names like Cedar and Dirt, they raid the dumpsters of other corporations, like Trader Joe's and New Seasons, living off of King Richard's (or King George W, however you like it, who also is staging a Crusade in the Middle East right now,) excesses, or stealing from the rich and giving to the poor, just as was done in times of yore. Merry men (and women,) are gleaning wealth with their stealthy fingers, as they shoplift from other corporations whose greed and corruption makes it moral to take from them.
So, we simultaneously rewild and we work to sabotage those mighty corrupt corporations who do harm to our brothers and sisters, of both human and nonhuman species! And we do it all out of love.
Love ya,
Carrot
