We started the garden by spreading 100 pound bags of lyme to
help with the PH of the soil. We had
some of the older boys helping us but they were shortly disinterested in
helping like many teenagers can be. I
started giving them a hard time that a 43 year-old had already done twice the
work as they had. They could not believe
that I was 43, but the gray hairs in my now 5 day-old beard seemed to convince
them. As I left them to go spread some
more lyme, on another part of the garden, I looked back and the newly
re-motivated teens had a spontaneous push-up contest between them to see who
was the strongest.
… All it takes to live in the bush is the ability to climb a
tree. On the last day, I was standing
around talking to three teenage boys from earlier in the week. From the first day, I was known as Mr.
Johnsen, or “Old Man”. The boys invited
me to stay at their house the next time I visit. I told them that would be very nice and that
I could bring a tent to sleep in. They
said that would be fine, and that there were no wild animals in the bush here,
but over the mountain, there were baboons and wild boars. My response to them was to just give me a
spear or a bow and some arrows and I would be okay. They laughed and said, “No, that would not
work.” I told them that the four of us
with spears could take down the boar if we all attacked at once. They still were not convinced. They said that to live in the bush, you had
to be able to climb a tree to get out of danger. I told them that I could climb a tree. They looked at me and said, “But you are an
old man and can’t climb a tree.” So, we
went over to the big shade tree and I jumped up, grabbing the lowest limb. After making my way half way up, one of the
boys joined me. We climbed down and once
on the ground, they told me that I could live in the bush.
~ Old Man (AKA., Eric)
