It has been a long blog-free period, I know. Wintering in northern Minnesota is generally just a shift in outdoor activities; to doing things like cross-country skiing, and ice fishing. But not this February. Since the 5th, we had not been above zero, day or night, until yesterday (2/15), when we soared to 3 degrees above zero. Our nights have been in the minus 25 to minus 40 range every night. These temperatures, on their own, are not necessarily a hardship. Ten below, if it is calm, is good skiing weather. It's the wind that has been keeping us indoors. WIndchills are what makes venturing outdoors a painful experience.
So, I took advantage of this hibernation period to finish something that I never thought would see the light of day-I self-published a book. It is called "Food, Africa, and the Pursuit of Contentedness". With food as the main thread, it is mainly about my experience as a Fisheries Peace Corps volunteer in the Central African Republic, back in the early 1980s. This where I met Peggy, and where I learned so much about what is truly important in life.
Peg and I have embraced the Appropriate Technology approach to living that the Central Africans were so adept at practicing, and adapted it to our lives here in Bemidji. My surprising ability to format a book, and get it published on Kindle Direct Publishing (with all of its imperfections), prompted us to re-think the direction of Backwood Basics. Although we will still carry our products, we are now focusing on ebooks, print book, manuals, and instructional videos that will show you how we make many of the products that help us to become more self-reliant.
Rather than repeat myself, this from-the-heart video tells-all.
We hope to have my book available for sale soon on this web site. In the meantime, it is available on Amazon at: