Nature or Nurture ?

A

akivory

Joined
Feb 5, 2001
Messages
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Where do you get your passion for the wilderness? Since I was a young child I have had a strong attraction to the wild. it seems for many generations my ancestors have moved to the edge of civilization. I left the South West over 35 years ago and came here to Alaska. Before settling down with a family I worked as a remote fire guard and other jobs that took me into the wild.
Although i do not get the opportunity to spend a lot of time on the rivers I enjoy it does me good to see moose in the yard and know I can experience the wilderness a short distance from town.
 
If some one was wanting to move to Alaska what would you tell them.
I have thought about it since I was in the Marines and I was stationed out at
Adak Island but spent two day in Ancorage I thought that was awesome
For at least partime work I would still make knives:thumbup: Any trees up there that need cutting:D since that is what I do here in Nebraska.

I think I would like to be nurtured up in that great state. Seeing moose
and bears and all those trees I bet does a body good.

Any thoughts?
Thanks,

Bryan
 
My Native American Sisters and Brothers taught me to look at the world through Indian eyes. I am forever grateful to them. Mitakuye Oyasin.
 
i think that for me it was more nature...

when i was little i read "my side of the mountain" and something just clicked, i have been outside ever since pretty much. i am just drawn to it, despite the fact that i can't get any of my family to even think about coming on a dayhike with me. they are just not interested.

so i think its something built into me somehow, and it was triggered by "my side of the mountain"
 
In my twenties most of my outdoor time was planned around climbing trips. They were great energy charged times with a very tight group of friends. Awesome times, but in retrospect somewhat self-centered. Later with kids, and now a grandchild, I found the joys of helping young ones learn about the outdoors. It's been so cool to watch them experience things, including climbing, for the first time and watch them overcome their fears and become comfortable with outdoor skills. I'm so glad that I had the opportunity to experience these times. They've been some of the best in my life. By the way siguy... I read " My Side" in the 60's and have given many a copy to kids over the years.

Jeff
 
I would guess both, My family went camping on vacation because it was a cheap easy way to see cool places, and with three boys it provided alot of activities for us. Scouts came later and added to the love. Wondering in wilderness has always been my favorite activity.
 
Even before I was born, my dad has taken me up into the Sierra Nevada mountains to fish and camp. The mountains are like my second home, and I try to get up there as often as possible.
 
Homo erectus lived on this planet for 2 million years ago. They started using tools and controlling fire later on. They are today's humans early ancestors. All humans have some hardwiring for the wilderness.

I am a great example, I was a total city boy born in Brooklyn NY. Then I went to school near mountains and fell in love with nature. No one in my family enjoyed the woods.
 
I have always loved the outdoors. I dunno why, maybe a book I read, or movie I watched when I was really young. Maybe its just part of my being. My family isnt that into the outdoors either, with the exception of my moms dad, who when he passed away, they found he owned a boat and cabin nobody knew about. He was always an outdoor guy, who loved fishing, just more than we all realized I guess.
 
It was handed to me at birth and I was raised going into the bush and living there for short periods of time. Not always traditional, but always a good learning experience and time.
 
I was born and raised into a subsistence hunting family in rural Texas.My grandmother kept a single shot .22 behind the kitchen door and was not above taking a turkey when they came through the backyard or any other "varmint" that threatened her chickens. My mother won the "Biggest Deer in the County" contest when she was 68. A 19 point non-typical. My grandad had bad legs from WW1 and hunted from the road with us kids for bird dogs. I was in my early teens before I realized that was illegal. Needless to say, alot of that stuck with me. The ability to hunt,gather or grow at least a small part of my daily sustenance goes a long way toward maintaining my societal sanity and peace of mind.--KV
 
I think I have a genetic inclination towards nature and isolation...

My dad was born in a mining camp on top of a mountain in the interior of BC and worked as a prospector for years, living in the bush, hiking around and taking mineral samples (he has a degree in geological engineering.) He never had any use for people at all and is only really happy in the bush by himself.

But I never really spent any time with him as a kid and we've been camping together once - a couple of years ago. He used to go by himself when I was a kid and although I always wanted to go with him, he would only take a dog. I'm really serious when I say he had no use for people! He didn't want to be around anyone, he just wanted to be by himself in remote places.

Now that he's approaching seventy, he has calmed down quite a bit and tolerates people a lot better and I've gotten to know him pretty well. I have the same misanthropic tendencies but unlike my dad, I am a complete extrovert and like to socialize quite a bit (it's a complicated condition, misanthropic extrovert.) He is a serious introvert and it really took about thirty years for him to warm up to me.

But the point is that although he really had no influence on my life growing up, it turns out we have a lot of the same interests and habits, only I fortunately inherited my mom's friendliness! Otherwise I would be afraid to have kids...my dad really resented the intrusion a bunch of extra people turned out to be but I think I would like kids and watching this forum, I've learned a lot about what you can do with your kids to enjoy their company.

So in my case I think it's definitely nature, but I hope to also nurture my kids so they don't have to figure everything out on their own! Also I promise not to get mad at them for talking (dad hated talking or other evidence of human beings!)

Luckily my girlfriend - who after 8 years is effectively my wife - has a similar feeling about camping and the wilderness to me. Her dad was also a real introvert but fortunately is just a guy who likes the wilderness, not a guy who hates human beings so much he just wants to go anywhere he can't find them. So she was brought up with regular camping trips and extended stays at a cabin in northern ontario which her father built. So I think it won't be difficult to give our kids a good wholesome wilderness-friendy childhood, when we eventually get around to having kids anyway!


You know it's always been confusing to me why my dad had kids at all or how he ended up with a wife...I guess somebody took him for the strong, silent type and he was pretty good looking. And I guess if you can get him to speak, he does say really funny, sarcastic things. Still I would have to describe my mom as a saint for putting up with him for all these years.

But I am glad I inherited his interest in the wilderness!
 
as long as i can remember we used to go camping, fishing and hunting... i am now passing that tradtion on to my 2 boys...
 
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