Chapter 18: Christmas presents and promised training

Dinner was great. I gave everyone their presents amid much hullabaloo. The kids looked at me kind of weird after looking into their bags. I donned a similar bag that I'd made up for myself and took them out to the barn. There I'd set up a couple of screw-in eyebolts to make this work. I ran a cord from high to low and tied it off. The poncho went over it. Underneath that went a folded up O.D. wool U.S. Army blanket wrapped in a small canvas tarp.

"That's a tent. It's called a plow-point style. You need to stake or weight down the outer edges so the wind doesn't catch them and blow underneath. Sleeping in that the way it is, you'd freeze half to death. It needs a sleeping pad under the blanket to keep you off the concrete, or the ground. The ground always has moisture in it, and it'll suck the heat right out of your body."

I built a small fire on a sheet of steel and lit it with flint and tinder. I used a candle stub to light the wood. "See, the fire is in just the right place to reflect heat back into the tent. Now I'm going to put it out. We don't need the smoke in the barn."

I used a big flat shovel and my shoe to scrape the burning wood onto the shovel, then heaved it out the door.

"Normally you'd dig a shallow hole and put rocks around it. Then you can put your pot of water on the rocks and heat it up, making tea, soup or cooking something in it. Only in a high wind would you make the fire hole deep because then all the heat would go straight up and not keep you warm at all." Using a few logs I put together a reflector. "This is a heat reflector. When it's cold out you want one on the other side of the fire. Think about a fireplace. It's a three-sided reflector. If you've got a reflector in front of you, behind you and beside you, like in the standing corner of an old rock walled cabin. You can't help but stay warm." I showed them a hand net that I'd used a bit of twine to fasten a stick to the handle. "With this you can catch your dinner in the pools. Drop them in the pot with water, cook them and eat them. There's shellfish, itty bitty lobsters, all sorts of stuff. You use this", I picked up a small hatchet, "to cut firewood and open the shells. It's sharp as hell! Don't blame me if you cut yourself. The handkerchief is to clean up with and to pick up the hot pot. Never try to pick up a hot pot with a wet handkerchief. You'll get steam burns! I'll teach you how to cook a potato over the fire, or make hasty pudding. We'll do this over the fireplace. You guys getting the idea?"

I got grins and enthusiastic nods.

"Good. This is just the start. Once it warms up I'll take you out and show you the real thing. We'll stay out overnight a few times, then I'll let you loose on your own. Every once in a while I'll teach you something new. Once you've proved to me that you've learned it, we'll go on to something else. Okay?"

More grins and nods.

"Good. Let's go back inside before your mom gets worried."

I cleaned up my mess and followed them back inside. I'd teach them how to make a fire using the fireplace, where it was dry and there was no wind. Then we'd try it in the real world! I had gotten them little shovels and a hank of paper toweling for camp sanitation and little bottles of soap. Now I had to teach them how, when, where and why to use it.

Sanitation, first aid, fire starting and safety, staying warm on cold or frozen ground, building a trash hut that was warm and waterproof, how to check for snakes, how to capture and get rid of a snake ... there were all sorts of field tasks that I'd set them. In a couple of years, once they got some arm length and strength, I'd teach them to use the Atl-atl. Then no raccoon, rabbit squirrel or porcupine would be safe!

Hmm, I'd have to check for any diamond willow growths. If there weren't any I'd have to import some. They made absolutely great arrows. Pecking arrowheads took a long time to learn. I didn't know if I'd try to teach them that or not. Fletching was hard enough. Diamond Willow made great supports for a wikiup, too.

Once we got back inside the Julie noticed that the kids were happy so she was happy.

I invited Charlene to stay a couple of days to give Julie an adult female to talk to. I pretty much gave her Cart Blanche to visit whenever she wanted to. As far as I was concerned the first guest bedroom had her name on it.