we never bought maxx a birthday gift for his 14th birthday which was at the beginning of august. but we told him that when he thought of something that he wanted that we would get it for him... well, after his last boy scout camping trip he came home all excited about these two books.
how to stay alive in the woods
and the sas survival handbook (and if he starts to “sass” me, he will NOT be surviving): how to survive in the wild, in any climate, on land or at sea (pretty darn comprehensive).
here is a part of the description...
The SAS Survival Handbook is the Special Air Service's complete course in being prepared for any type of emergency. John 'Lofty' Wiseman presents real strategies for surviving in any type of situation, from accidents and escape procedures, to successfully adapting to various climates (polar, tropical, desert), to identifying edible plants and creating fire. The book is extremely practical and is illustrated throughout with easy-to-understand line art and diagrams.including chemical and nuclear
About the Author: John 'Lofty' Wiseman served in the British Special Air Service (SAS) for twenty-six years. The SAS Survival Handbook is based on the training techniques of this world-famous elite fighting force.
at the last campout maxx was able to do some survivalist camping with a group of guys. whoo hoo. that sounds like a good ole’ time. personally i like some survivalist scrapbooking with a group of gals. i might need a handbook for that...
so we ordered the two books that he wanted. they arrived today. as i was looking at them on the table waiting for him to come home it hit me that perhaps the fact that he needed these two books says a lot about my mothering skills...
and the things that it says about me as a mother are not great. so i stopped thinking about that and thought of all the possible benefits to him being able to forage for his own food...
perhaps he will come out of this household alive. even in case of a CHEMICAL or NUCLEAR event. both are entirely within the realm of possibility...
and speaking of survivalist scrapbooking.... that is what i will be doing from wednesday night-monday morning this week. i am heading to the beach house with a few of my nearest and dearest friends (well, actually my furthest awayest friends. one from south carolina, one from tennessee, and one from georgia). and we will be scrapbooking our hearts out while we chat, laugh, eat, and solve the problems of the world. one scrapbook page at a time.
we will not be foraging for our own food. i ordered meals from your secret pantry... which one time in a school newsletter fundraiser advertisement was printed as “your secret PANTY” by your truly (i swear that i never noticed but the assistant principal noticed when the newsletter came out. he thought it was funny and every time he sees me at the school he still laughs and calls me “your secret PANTY mom”. totally awkward).