My folks both grew up as little kids during the Great Depression, and mostly didn't want anything to do with that outdoors stuff that wasn't directly related to the farm. About all we did was maw would have us kids go along to pick berries or nuts.
Now, several aunts and uncles did all the hunting, fishing, camping stuff. Occasionally I would get to go along, but kind of rare. So us kids went out and learned it all on our own on the farm and in the woods. Read a little bit, and then go do it. Tree houses, shacks, dugouts, bridges, dams, rafts, and on and on.
Since I grew up, I've learned the camping/hunting/shooting part. And then I got involved in the Living History stuff. So now everything tends to be done as it would have been in the 1600's and 1700's. That puts quite a twist on things.
The blacksmithing developed out of all that ... tinkering ... back on the farm. We ... tinkered ... to fix stuff all the time. And if we wanted something else, we had to make it ourselves.
So I had almost no input from my maw and paw, but a little from several aunts and uncles. That's just how things go sometimes.
Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands
Now, several aunts and uncles did all the hunting, fishing, camping stuff. Occasionally I would get to go along, but kind of rare. So us kids went out and learned it all on our own on the farm and in the woods. Read a little bit, and then go do it. Tree houses, shacks, dugouts, bridges, dams, rafts, and on and on.
Since I grew up, I've learned the camping/hunting/shooting part. And then I got involved in the Living History stuff. So now everything tends to be done as it would have been in the 1600's and 1700's. That puts quite a twist on things.
The blacksmithing developed out of all that ... tinkering ... back on the farm. We ... tinkered ... to fix stuff all the time. And if we wanted something else, we had to make it ourselves.
So I had almost no input from my maw and paw, but a little from several aunts and uncles. That's just how things go sometimes.
Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands