I have a confession to make. A little secret if you will...
I really enjoy watching The Legend of Mick Dodge on NatGeo. (The National Geographic Channel)
Farmer John saw the advertisement for it and set it up to record. I, in all my high and mightiness, laughed at him. "You're really going to watch that?" I thought it looked silly.
But despite the quirkiness (and earth worshipping world view) of the "star" of the show, Mick Dodge. I found myself strangely drawn to his lifestyle.
He lives in the Hoh rainforest of Washington's Olympic peninsula. But he lives a bit more than off-grid. He makes his home in trees and stumps and eats off the land, bartering for what little of the "real" world he needs.
Now I don't for a moment believe that what I'm shown on the show is the total "reality" and a little internet research proves me right. But I like the concept of his life. It has a freedom to it that so many of us tied to the grid and slave-wage jobs don't have. (Though I also confess that I have no intention of crawling into stumps to sleep if I have a choice.)
I have watched two episodes so far. In the first show we met Dodge and a leather working off-grid friend. I was in awe of the handcrafted goods this man makes. In the second show, Dodge finds one of his hidden bows (for defense against bears and cougars) stolen and needs a replacement. We then see him in barter action. A burl he finds in a clear cut and some juice made from wild berries is traded (with the leather worker from the first show) for a pair of buckskins and then the buckskins are traded to a master bow maker for the needed bow, which we get to seen made. No money! Just work and ingenuity! I am inspired to see what I can find or produce that I can barter with.
It will be interesting to see what else he does and who else they introduce on the show and what crazy ideas I get from it.
Has anyone else seen the show? What do you all think?
