Morning watchers, night hikers, nacho mama belly fillers, rope swingers, friction fire lighters, booger rivals, chuck wagoners, turtle hisland gamers, basecamp brothers. How about a deep breath. How about a little wiggle, shake, groove through your body. How about saying hey to the next person who walks by, and just holding steady eye contact. I jumped in a cold, cold lake a few days ago- made me think of y'all. I ate one too many pieces of leftover pie a few nights ago- made me think of y'all. I hugged a big beautiful oak tree this morning- made me think of y'all. I'll be sitting around the fire tonight with a group of brothers- thinking of y'all. Peace. -Haribo |
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Hello Turtle Island Friends.
Sol, Flor, Charlie and Carrie are having a wonderful Fall here in the Blue Ridge Mountains surrounding Asheville, NC. Hope all are well during this chaotic year. I continually think of the healing power of the forest and nature during this time. Find ways to get outside, to breathe fresh air, and to feel the positive forces that flow through the natural world. Looking forward to seeing TI friends in the not so distant future. Much Love, Charlie Reed
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Hello, camp-goers and woodspeople!
I hope this letter finds you well in this beautiful winter. The changing seasons and the trees dropping their leaves are all signs that, regardless of the challenges going on in human society, time marches forward with the confidence of someone who’s seen it all and knows everything is just fine. Take comfort in Mother Nature’s message. I’d enjoy hearing how you’ve been, and I hope you reach out and let me know. Since letters are more one-sided than modern texting, I’ll first tell you about my five months.
I moved to a new town, attended a new school, and began studying a new subject, law. I enjoyed tackling these challenges, found time to make a few friends, and have been living in an apartment for the first time. The neighbors upstairs fight and the neighbors downstairs have a baby who loves to cry, but my windows look out at trees and I appreciate how efficiently apartments fit people’s lives together in neat stackable boxes. Even though apartments are traditionally very urban, I get my daily nature exposure from bike rides, houseplants and a few pet spiders living on my windowsills.
I was thinking recently about how nature is always present, even when the news tells me to stay inside and I live in a stackable box. I feel camp is the same way. Even though five months have passed since we stood together in a circle and blessed a meal, the experiences, memories and lessons of camp are still always present within us. It may require a focused moment to rewind and remember that awesome craft you made or game you played this summer, but I hope you reflect and enjoy it. I’ll be doing the same with candleholder in hand this December 24th, thinking of camp, you all, and the circle of light we cast across the globe. With that inspiration, I may even volunteer to do KP for my family. Enjoy life, take care, and be good. - Marino
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Greetings, from the Southern side where the sun gleams and the thunderstorms stretch across the Gulf farther than the eye can see, occasionally simultaneously. These days have been so good to me. My heart is filled with love and recognition for the blessing and opportunity we are provided each day. What a gift it is indeed to walk another stride on this path, to be "still learning", to improve our condition and rise above our imposed limitations constructed out of fear... to conquer our concocted conclusions... to subordinate our ego so that we may arrive present, curious and willing to grow in ways unknown. I am eager to see new and familiar faces this year at camp, it continues to be the greatest learning environment I have ever had the privilege and pleasure of coexisting in. Many thanks and all my love, Fred James Pree |
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As I reflect on the year that is about to end I observe two main feelings, those of gratefulness and urgency. I am grateful that I am alive and healthy during these difficult times for many fellows. Grateful to carry with me the memories I share with y' all and all the lessons I am learning in Turtle Island. Grateful to have our coming summer gathering to look forward to. My feeling of urgency comes from how rapidly I see the world changing around me and from the need to accomplish all I aspire to achieve in my life. And, amongst this mini chaos which a tiny virus has caused to the world, I now more than ever appreciate the importance of the skills I learn in TIP, for what were, are and will remain the most important skills a human can have are how to hunt, forage and grow food, how to build shelter, how to purify water and how to love. And Turtle Island teaches us all of those. Much love, Konstantinos
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Gentlemen,
If ever there was a year to put the lessons we learn together at camp to the test, it was this one. Honor, integrity, love, kindness, strength—these traits are easy to bandy about for two weeks; implementing them in the remaining 50 is another matter entirely. Continue to keep your neighbors safe; do so for yourselves. Let's ensure we can get together again this upcoming summer in that green glade we love so well.
In unrelated news, I wrote an upcoming GQ article on Eustace, a bit of a sequel to Elizabeth Gilbert's original article that spawned the title, "The Last American Man." Keep them eyes peeled. -Will Bahr
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From Base Camp - The Noble Life: |
As I ponder, collecting the thoughts to share for this piece, I gaze upon the space we share every summer. A large, frosty window inside Winter Camp grants me the opportunity to overlook the sacred learning ground we share. My heart is full; The only vision in life I currently possess: Hold this space, so my brothers and I can meet once more.
To play my role in tending to the living creatures, human and beast. To play my role of hunting, growing, foraging, and processing the resources for us to feast this coming summer. To play my role in blazing the trails that guide our summer adventures. To play my role in honoring our practice of Morning Watch year round. Every morning I rise, I reflect on how my actions today may serve my brothers this summer. Every evening I rest, I ask myself how true I stood to that vision.
To live a life where your purpose is greater than just you... No matter who you are, or where you might be... This is what I imagine a noble life to be.
An intentional life. A life of service to family, friends, stranger, and foe.
A life fueled with a reason beyond the individual.
A life worth living.
Until we meet once more,
Johnny Junco
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As the days grow shorter still, I’ve been taking walks with my shadow. We go out just before the sun sets and visit with the neighbors. First stop, the muskrats who are getting busy after a day of rest. We bid good night to the geese as they swim out into the lake to sleep and good morning to the great horned owls, who are still pestering their mother for food. Then we visit with the lake itself and listen to it creak as it slowly freezes. As we walk, my shadow grows longer and longer, stretching seventy feet before the sun dips below the horizon and he disappears for the night. He is a good companion, but I’m looking forward to trading his quiet for the bustle of camp, the lake for the creek, the great horned for the barred, and long nights for days packed with chuck wagon, blacksmithing, and a stash of booger eggs. I hope you’ll be there too, on the other side of the sun. -Jais |
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Autumn had no trouble giving-way to winter here this year. As Jupiter and Saturn inch closer to one another in the sky for winter solstice, we too come closer to one another in our casting a circle of light with our candles on December 24th night. Camp is quiet these days, save for the creak and groan of winter trees in the wind. The horses have been moved into winter quarters, as they grow shaggier hair in response to to the cold longer nights. The honeybees are hunkered down in their supers. A few frozen greens are poking oddly up from the garden soil, and the compost pile is frozen solid. As our part of the planet turns into a new season, I cant help but think of all of you and your smiling faces and hoping that wherever you are right now, you are warm, feeling safe and well! May there also be moments of playfulness too. May you remember the things you learned at camp, and lean into those skills and that knowledge you gained. -Desere |
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Registration for camp 2021 is OPEN: |
All the info you need for camp 2021 can be found HERE
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