Wild Harvest

Being an on-call temp worker, I’ve been away from work for three weeks, so it wasn’t until today’s walk that I noticed that apples and shagbark hickory nuts from the trees near my building had become ripe, (so I gathered some). To once again cite Gary Snyder, in an essay on walking, he emphasized how when out walking in the wild, we notice where the food sources are. I find there is something atavistic about that, that puts us in touch with our hunter-gatherer ancestors. Because I work at MSU and get deployed to different places on campus, I make a point of routing my walks through any new buildings I’m in or near, to acquaint myself with where the vending machines are, as well as other important resources like Sparty’s Snack Bars. I also feel a certain harmony with the hunter-gatherer ancestors when I’m scouting those things out.