Stay Calm and Think Part II #88

So there I was, cold, wet and not where I thought I was. At a time like this, if you have not worked on survival skills or not had any formal training, your mind can begin to wander and you can hear things that you would not otherwise concern yourself with. Every branch that cracks and every movement that you hear is amplified. Your only thought is “How do I get back to my vehicle?” But in fact, the best way to cope with this situation is to stay calm, sit down and think things through. There is a great book that my father, a retired Maine Game Warden gave me many years ago entitled, “You alone in the Maine Woods”. You will recall if you have it or have seen it because the cover is blaze orange. I still have a copy of it and have it packed in my Guide’s bag that goes everywhere with me. If you don’t have a copy and would like one, here is the link to the little book.

https://maine.gov/ifw/education/pdfs/aloneinmainewoods.pdf

Training will tell you to sit tight and do not move. Someone will find you. BUT that is not what most people do. Their desire to get out drives them to keep moving and that can be detrimental. Some might say, well Tim, you said you had some snowfall the night before, so why not follow your tracks out. The answer is maybe, but often times you have tracked a long way and maybe took a route and then doubled back, and that can cause you to again become disoriented.

I recall listening to a gentlemen tell me once about a lost hunter and what happened to him. It seems that on this day, the hunter entered the woods and was on the track of a big buck. That track took him up and down, and over and under and eventually, he found himself lost. Panic set in and he became wet, cold and lost his sense of right and wrong. He started running through the woods, peeling off his clothes. He became so disillusioned that he did not even remember that in his run, he crossed a Maine road. They finally located the hunter and he had very little clothing on and was hypothermic. He did survive, but this story can tell you what a person’s mind goes through when they are in panic mode.

So, what did I do? My survival skills started to kick in, I reasoned with myself and decided that my first order of business was to stay put and get warm. I began to pile up some dry kindling and birch bark in preparation for starting a fire. My main goal was to keep myself warm in the event I was going to have to stay there for a while. You should never go into the woods without matches and I was prepared for that. I also searched for some larger rocks by the shore of the pond. Why you say? Because rocks hold heat very well. So putting them into the fire and letting them get hot will sustain the heat available to you for a longer period of time. They tell us that if you have to stay overnight in the woods, these rocks can be put under the fir boughs you have as your bed, and they will keep you warm. The next order of business was to find a spot that I could use as a wind stop, such as a large tree with lots of spruce or fir branches hanging down, or a fallen tree where the roots are showing etc. The third thing was to find some dry fir boughs to sit on to keep my pants dry. Once this was done, I moved on to the next thing to do. If you are in distress in the woods, what is the international sign for getting help??? Yes, three shots in the air. And that is what I did. I let one and two and then three shots go off and I waited. After a time, I waited and did it again, mindful of the number of live cartridges I had, and not to use them all at once.

I then walked myself through what I needed to do next. Was there anything else I needed to do? Doing this will keep your mind off your current situation to some degree and hopefully help you get through the fear.

Well, a lot of time passed and I was thinking that I was going to have to spend the night there. I had done what I needed to do and I knew that when Andre got back to the truck and I was not there, he would either come looking for me or would get help. I decided that I would make one more attempt to send up three shots and then would settle in. As I was getting ready to do that, I heard a loud snap in the fir trees. I looked intently to see what was there and then there was another one, this one closer. I could hear footsteps and crunching. My heart started to race and I was immersed in what was making that noise. And then, there it was again, closer and closer until all of a sudden a large amount of snow fell from the fir branches and out popped Andre. I was never so glad to see him than that moment. He had heard the shots and came to investigate. His first words were”Hey there feller, where is the big deer?” My face had a smile from ear to ear and I proceeded to tell him what had happened. Once we got that out of the way, Andre said, it’s getting dark, let’s get back to the truck. That was music to a wet clothed guys ears. Andre took out his compass, got his bearing and off we went. Soon, we were at the road and the truck was in sight. We jumped in, I fired up the truck and got the heat going and we headed for home.

Over the many years since this happened, we seldom spoke of the excursion other than to have a brief laugh. I had learned a lot that day, which in fact drove me to learn more about the woods, survival, and what I could have done differently.  Today, I am much better prepared with my GPS, extra batteries and yes, a very good compass. I no longer use the bobber one. The biggest lesson I learned that day was you need to remain calm, think things through and prepare to stay warm. Also, stay in one place and always make sure you tell someone where you are going and when you will be back. AND don’t deviate from what you tell them. If you use these tips, you will fare much better and won’t waste the energy that can drive you to becoming disoriented and delusional. It’s just that simple…

Stay Calm and Think

Have you ever been in a situation where you have felt helpless, bewildered and just downright scared? What did you do? How did you get out of it? Have you ever thought about it and figured out what you could do differently the next time to prevent it? I ask these questions because I was in one of those situations many years ago and then made some corrections so as to not duplicate it again. Let me explain.

As I recall, I woke up to a nice cool, crisp morning in Northern Maine. The sun was out and snow had fallen during the night. My day consisted of spending time in the woods with my brother in law, Andre’ in back of St. Francis, Maine hunting for white tail deer. Now, Andre’ was a very accomplished hunter. He had learned the ropes from his father and from other experiences. I remember he picked me up early that morning and we headed for the big woods around 1^st Pelletier Pond. The air was crisp and calm. It was a perfect day for our hunt. We drove to St. Francis, got on the dirt woods road by Chamberlains Store and headed toward the pond. The road still had not been plowed as was the custom there and we were one of the first vehicles to drive over it. We finally arrived at the pond and got ready for the hunt. Andre’ had hunted this area many times and knew it well. I on the other hand had never hunted there and was more interested in getting my bearings right. But being the young know it all, I felt good about what I was about to do and had no qualms with how I was about to do it. I had taken every liberty to dress appropriately and felt warm and comfy as I left the truck. That morning, I had pinned my liquid filled bobber compass on my jacket and was using that as my directional guide. Remember, that was over 30 years ago and they had not yet made GPS’s. I took a bearing, and off into the thick spruce I went. I started with the pond on my left side and headed north. It was not long before I cut a track of what looked like a big buck. I took another look at my compass and that deer was headed northwest through the cedar swamp. Feeling no fear, I headed in the same direction after it. It took me up a mountain and down the other side, then it changed direction on me and circled back in a southerly direction. It’s as if he knew I was there and was going to take me for a nice walk. We did that for what felt like an eternity, with him not stopping and me not giving up on the prize. Eventually, we came to a pond and I noticed that I was on the right side of it. I looked down at my compass and it was stuck. Yes, stuck in one position. It was BROKEN! I had brought another compass, but when I checked my pockets, it was nowhere to be found.

I stopped my pursuit of the whitetail and now my thoughts turned to where I was. I had read a lot about being turned around in the woods, but I had never had the opportunity to be one of those people. They say that landmarks look the same when you feel disoriented and your mind begins to play tricks on you. To that I say, true and true. The pond on my left looked identical to 1^st Pelletier, so all I thought I had to do was walk around it and the truck would be parked on the southern end. So, off I went. I did that for about a half an hour and it finally dawned on me that it was not the same pond, and the truck was nowhere in sight. The snow had been pretty fluffy and deep that day and I began to feel the sweat running down my back, and my clothes were now all wet.  I recall thinking, ok what do I do next?

Part 2 to come!

 The Matriarch Has Passed

TC and I wrote this blog together:

I don’t know how many of you folks know what a matriarch does in the animal kingdom. The definition in human form is: a woman who is the head of a family. When I reflect on this definition, I immediately think of a person who, for so many years was a big part of my life. A person who thought so much of her family and enjoyed them all every day. A person who marveled over her many grandchildren.

The bible eloquently says: To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

On Thanksgiving Day of this year, the Cyr family, and my wife Therese, TC, lost their matriarch and mother, Annette Cyr.

Now, Annette helped to raise ten children. TC was number six. Annette was proud of them all and I recall a number of times when this very soft spoken person, who could be very tough as well, would tell me so.

After the days of the loss, I reflected back upon my time with Annette from when I first met her until the Sunday before her passing, when I visited her for the last time. She was always very protective of her family, and I would see that at the onset of my relationship with her daughter. She really was not that pleased with a long haired young man driving a pickup truck coming to call on number six. Eventually, I won her over and was accepted into their home, albeit under her watchful eye. While TC’s Dad was working, or fishing or hunting, she would be home tending to the things that needed mending. See, she was very good with her hands and could fix just about anything. She was also very creative and artistic. She designed many beautiful mangers using paper mache and cedar. They came in many different shapes and sizes.  But her forte was oil painting magnificent sceneries, and her favorite scene was winter. I recall the last couple of years when she was living at home, where she undertook a project to paint a scene for each of her 16 grandchildren.

Annette was also a spiritual person, and a person that gave of her time to the church. For a period of time she helped to decorate the church with her own decorative banners. She was also a talented singer, and sang in the church choir and at many funerals.

I also recall, when she finally went into the assisted living home, where she would enjoy our visits with her. Later on, when I sported a full beard, she would walk up to me, grab onto the beard, and pull it a bit and then laugh. She also had a competitive streak in her. I recall a number of times when we would walk down the hall of the home she was in, and walking behind me with her walker. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, she would speed up and pass me and look back with a smile only she had.

Annette was bilingual, but her first language was French.  She would usually speak English when I or the grandchildren were around. But over the last several years she reverted back to full French. I remember one time when one of my sons was visiting her in the home, where out of the blue, she spoke English to him. We were so surprised by that.

Annette was also very particular with the clothes she wore. They had to be to her liking or they did not get worn. They also had to be a certain style and color. On one of our last visits with her, she was complaining about the pants she had on and at one point, I thought she was going to take them off right then and there. TC managed to comfort her and calm her down.

Another thing that comes to mind is that Annette was a master cook in the kitchen. Her meals were so delicious. The only problem was that most of her recipes were all in her head. She knew just how much to add and when to add it. Later on in life, she made it known that she was tired of cooking, one can only agree with her based upon ten mouths to feed at once. But even as she got older she would always have some food on the table whenever we stopped in. And whenever friends or family walked in unannounced, everyone was welcomed and she always greeted everyone with a warm heart, and a warm meal, and even a warm bed for those that came from afar.

Finally, I will always remember her for the person who would not really stick up for herself, except for this one time. She always loved to stop at our home and on a few occasions, let Rosaire, TC’s father know that she wanted to stay the night. This particular time, they were both sitting in the living room and true to form, Rosaire said something that she did not like. All of a sudden, she stood up in front of him and let him have it. I still hear the chorus of “You Shut up”. “You shut up, you! It was priceless. Rosaire just sat there and did not know what had hit him. I had to hold back the smile. I mastered that, and from time to time, in fun, would remind TC of that day using the same tone and words that she spoke on that day.

As we move on, and she would want that to happen, I will always remember her smile, open arms and love for all of us. She taught me and my sons a lot in her own quiet way.                

Mom, our wonderful memories of you will never fade. You were a loving, respectful, comforting and consoling woman. I am forever grateful for all that you have done. Your quiet nature and random acts of giving and sharing will always be cherished. Your duties as a wife, mother and friend were special indeed. But the one thing that I took notice of, was your faith and how it gave you the courage and strength to move on, especially during the difficult times. It was the same way with Dad. I realize now that my faith has grown from your seed, and it’s my hope that one-day people from everywhere can pass that on.   May the choirs of angels meet you at heaven’s gate and bring you in to where you belong.  Thank you and God Bless.