Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Bushcraft Definitions

Recently I have been thinking about the definitions of what bushcraft means to me. And so has Tim Smith over at Jack Mtn. Bushcraft. I also have been meaning to blog about it in order to open a dialog among those that follow my musings and rants.  As I thought about what bushcraft means to me, how I could sum up my passions and beliefs, I was trying to distill my thoughts into poetic prose that would be quoted for generations.  I struggled and struggled with the wording, and the cadence and I grew frustrated with my own clumsy attempts.  Then I was sitting down with my oldest watching one of her favorite movies, The Jungle Book when it hit me.  I don't need to come up with a poetic definition of bushcraft because Phil Harris,  Bruce Reitherman already did it for me... 



Look for the bare necessities
The simple bare necessities
Forget about your worries and your strife
I mean the bare necessities
Old Mother Nature's recipes
That brings the bare necessities of life

Wherever I wander, wherever I roam
I couldn't be fonder of my big home
The bees are buzzin' in the tree
To make some honey just for me
When you look under the rocks and plants
And take a glance at the fancy ants
Then maybe try a few

The bare necessities of life will come to you
They'll come to you!

Look for the bare necessities
The simple bare necessities
Forget about your worries and your strife
I mean the bare necessities 
That's why a bear can rest at ease
With just the bare necessities of life

Now when you pick a pawpaw
Or a prickly pear
And you prick a raw paw
Next time beware
Don't pick the prickly pear by the paw
When you pick a pear
Try to use the claw
But you don't need to use the claw
When you pick a pear of the big pawpaw
Have I given you a clue ?

The bare necessities of life will come to you
They'll come to you!

So just try and relax, yeah cool it
Fall apart in my backyard
'Cause let me tell you something little britches
If you act like that bee acts, uh uh
You're working too hard

And don't spend your time lookin' around
For something you want that can't be found
When you find out you can live without it
And go along not thinkin' about it
I'll tell you something true

The bare necessities of life will come to you!



We could all learn a lot from Baloo...

4 comments:

Tim Smith said...

I think Baloo would have spelled it "Bear" not "Bare" Great post. If you've never read the original Jungle Book stories by Kipling, you should check them out.

Anonymous said...

Tim,
I concur with you that Baloo would spell it differently. I have read a lot of Kiplings poetry and I love it, I haven't read the Jungle Book stories though. My wife picked up an antique illustrated copy a while back that we plan on reading to our daughters when they get a little older.

Shelley said...

You can learn a lot from children if you slow down and tune into what they are saying! 2-year olds can say some profound things!

Oz said...

Right on brother, I like it. Gonna start singing it more often. Yeah.. more often.