Why Do We Malign My Beloved Wolves?

I was watching another movie, The Golden Compass I think, and here we go again, wolves were the animals of the bad guys.  WHY? At some point in our history, we loved wolves enough to domesticate them.  Wolves are social, strong, full of endurance, and take you head on.  No sneaking around and ambushing you.  Oh well.....

More later...
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Where Is The Neighbourhood

Another trip down memory lane had me pondering the neighbourhood I grew up in.  I just don't see the groups of kids hanging and playing like I use to.  Where I grew up, public school was geography based, you lived in region x you will attend school y.  The upside is, if there were any number of kids in an area, you eventual all crossed paths and interacted.  Junior high school (grades 7, 8, and 9) even more so.

About junior high age, when we were sufficiently independent from mom and dad to dodge homework, chores, and just about everything else, there was a number of us in a 10 block radius that started to really hangout.  We would congregate near the center of the region and we would often spend hours playing kick the can (a fancy version of hide-and-seek).  Most of the neighbours were pretty cool about having a number of kids hopping fences, cutting through yards and being kids.  There was the odd yard that was off limits, for various reasons, but most of the people didn't give us too much hassel. A game would start after supper and would last until after dark (unless someone's mom called).

Into The Wild

Finally saw Into the Wild.  Very intersting movie, and an interesting concept.  It was too bad for the main character that the Dick Proenneke Alone in the Wilderness wasn't available yet, he might have survived. You can read the IMDB summaries of either of the movies.  When the Proenneke documentary is on PBS I will watch it without fail.  There is of course also Never Cry Wolf and Call of the Wild. 

Now my real point, I've been at a cross road for awhile, when my mind is unsettled I run to the outdoors. Nothing like the power and tranquility of nature.  Sitting on a bluff, or a ridge, hilltop or mountain top.  My bush craft isn't up to the point that I could just drop off the face of civilization and disappear into the woods and walk a lifetime in Proenneke's footsteps.  I need to practice starting a fire with a bow drill.  I would have to decide to actually hunt, instead of just stalk for photos.  Most importantly, I need to learn plant and mushroom identification.  In the Into the Wild movie the dood mistook Inedible wild sweet pea, hedysarum mackenzii, with Edible Wild potatoe, hedysarum alpinum.  I have far too much to learn on the plant and mushroom front to survive without a garden, or a super market.  At some point, I also need to learn how to better dress meat, then smoke or dry it.  While I understand how to dress most game, it has just been far too long since I last tried that, I would probably spoil more meat than I could butcher, again like the d00d in the movie.