11 Comments

Jude from Australia here! Just happened upon this. So awesome to read your recount of Standard class, it articulates the experience so well. I've since taken up to Advanced Scout and Philosophy 2 and it only gets more incredible with each class. Do you plan on taking more classes in the future? If so, see you then! If not - fair enough : ) Hope you're doing well!

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Hi, Jude! Thank you for dropping by. I had to think a moment to remember you, then I imagined myself washing dishes, and it all came rushing back. Congratulations on taking Advanced Scout! I want to return to take Advanced Tracking sometime. This year was not the year, but maybe next summer. I'm doing well otherwise; a lot of nature walks and mountain biking. We're planning on visiting Australia next year, so please feel free to tell me how not to be an awful tourist. I hope you're doing well, it sounds like you've been busy. If you'd prefer email, thomas @ thomaspluck . com (minus the spaces) will get to me.

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I’ve had my eye on this for years. Really enjoyed reading about your experiences. Our son did a wilderness trip for 10 weeks and taught us how to bow drill. So cool!!

As a fellow Italian-American, I feel duty bound to tell you that Iron Eyes Cody was an Italian actor. (Maybe you already knew that?) 😬

Thanks for a great read.

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Yes, he was a paisan... Very complicated situation! They even talked about it on the Sopranos.

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Oh yeah! I forgot that. Also meant to say - I have a love affair with tulip poplars. A huge one in my backyard and a triple one in West Virginia in a special place where we have nature/soul retreats. But in general, they are amazingly generous trees. The bark of downed trees makes excellent siding - which the settler-colonists learned from Native Americans.

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Oh my goodness I haven't thought about him in years! His books were a huge help when I was writing Place Last Seen, about a lost child. I had one character who was kind of a tracker, and Tom Brown's stuff was so terrific.

Sounds like a great experience!

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I didn't write about him much this time around, but I did in the "First Thoughts" post. He's still a firebrand for protecting the planet, and a great teacher.

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Everything about this sounds incredible, and I think that’s true in general about friendship -- it’s easier to form bonds if you’re doing something together, preferably overcoming something or learning something. There’s something about growing neurons with a person that help you grow together with them.

I read this about tracking recently in “west with the Night” and thought you might relate: “it is not a matter of watching where you step; it is rather a matter of keeping your eyes on the place where you want to be, while every nerve becomes another eye, every muscle develops reflex action. You do not guide your body, you trust it to be silent.”

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That sounds like the next level. I'm still trying not to step in poop or fall over when trying to fox walk.

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I so want to do this.

PS: LOVE "Travis was sort of the Bob Ross of camo." That pic captures it really well.

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I can't recommend it highly enough for anyone interested. I hope you go!

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