Adventure books have grabbed me from time to time, such as my first couple weeks as a full time RVer, in northern Michigan. Spring was supposed to be happening, but it wouldn't. It was cold and damp in that little travel trailer, which I was struggling to get used to. It seemed like an igloo. I was alone and had little to occupy my time. 'RV Dream' lifestyle, indeed! I was having some doubts.
I ended up reading Richard Byrd's classic outdoor tale, "Alone," about his solitary brush-with-death in the Antarctic. There's nothing like reading the right book at just the right time and place. With that idea in mind, I read "Alive" when I was hoping that my lost little poodle might be rescued. "Alive" was the story about the South American rugby team who suffered a plane crash in the Andes. They also made a movie of it. But it didn't inspire me, like you might think. Instead it made me feel ashamed of holding onto such unrealistic hopes. Similarly watching Disney's classic "Homeward Bound" made me feel self-disgust more than anything.
In one of Fred and Ginger's movies they acted out a scene where a suicidal gambler chances upon a woman who was ready to throw herself into the river. They found each other, saved each other. They decided to "Face the Music and Dance" to Irving Berlin's song. Here at last was my inspiration to accept the demise of my little poodle, who was my first dog, and move on with life. I went to the animal shelter and adopted my first female dog.
One final connection between my little dog's brush with death and books remains: the tales of Jack London. Although his novels "White Fang" and "Call of the Wild" are known best, my favorite was always a short story called, "Love of Life:" a man slowly starves to death in the far North. Along the way, he is stalked by a wolf who is also dying. They move along, slowly and painfully, linked in this Dance of Death. The man knows he's losing the battle. He -- or rather the Life in him -- tries to think of something.
It doesn't matter to me that wildlife biologists or wilderness societies might disapprove of London's stories. What counts is that his stories help us get in touch with...
...the Wolf Within.
I ended up reading Richard Byrd's classic outdoor tale, "Alone," about his solitary brush-with-death in the Antarctic. There's nothing like reading the right book at just the right time and place. With that idea in mind, I read "Alive" when I was hoping that my lost little poodle might be rescued. "Alive" was the story about the South American rugby team who suffered a plane crash in the Andes. They also made a movie of it. But it didn't inspire me, like you might think. Instead it made me feel ashamed of holding onto such unrealistic hopes. Similarly watching Disney's classic "Homeward Bound" made me feel self-disgust more than anything.
In one of Fred and Ginger's movies they acted out a scene where a suicidal gambler chances upon a woman who was ready to throw herself into the river. They found each other, saved each other. They decided to "Face the Music and Dance" to Irving Berlin's song. Here at last was my inspiration to accept the demise of my little poodle, who was my first dog, and move on with life. I went to the animal shelter and adopted my first female dog.
One final connection between my little dog's brush with death and books remains: the tales of Jack London. Although his novels "White Fang" and "Call of the Wild" are known best, my favorite was always a short story called, "Love of Life:" a man slowly starves to death in the far North. Along the way, he is stalked by a wolf who is also dying. They move along, slowly and painfully, linked in this Dance of Death. The man knows he's losing the battle. He -- or rather the Life in him -- tries to think of something.
It doesn't matter to me that wildlife biologists or wilderness societies might disapprove of London's stories. What counts is that his stories help us get in touch with...
...the Wolf Within.
Comments
Actually I was in the northwest corner of the lower peninsula, west of Traverse City.
I read alone and alive... both were intense reads because they were true stories.