Field & Forager Magazine

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WANDERING DJERBAHOOD
Street art transforms Tunisia
by Nicholas Linn
21
HALLELULAH ON THE BUM
A tale of hitching to the west coast
by Edward Abbey
30
THE MARRAKESH ORANGERIE
In search of a color in a strange land
by Mathew Gauger
40
THE EVOLUTION OF DIET
Culinary time travel essay
by Anne Gibbons
50
THE SECRET LIVES OF MUSHROOM HUNTERS
Murder and Mushrooms
by Nick Davidson
EDITORS NOTE
Once when I was about 8, my friend Teo
and I took our bikes and rode down the
dusty dirt road that lead from my family’s
ranch. We stashed our bikes in the thick
bushes next to a narrow trail forged by the
local deer population and walked through
the tall pines to a steep dropoff that overhung
the roaring Fraser river. As kids are inclined
to do, we spent some time just throwing
rocks over the edge, marveling at how long
it would take for them to reach the water.
At some point, I reached into my jacket pocket
to grab another handful of the pebbles I’d
collected along the way and instead pulled
out several crab-like critters about half an
inch wide. Even at that tender age, I knew a
bit about the woods and so it dawned on me:
spring melt- new greens- it’s wood tick season.
The panicked charge back to our bikes
revealed that the forest was very much
infested with ticks as they seemed to rain
down on us in alarming numbers. I think
my mum counted over 200 on me as
she methodically went through my hair
and clothes for hours that afternoon.
It’s one of many somewhat scary wildlife-related
stories that I like tell to my now fellow
urban-dwelling outdoor enthusiasts. Perhaps
a small part of me is trying to dissuade them
from going out to the woods in order to keep
more of it for myself. Whatever the reason, I
find myself recalling those days with a longing
to feel that connectedness and awareness of
the ecosystems around me that I had as a
child, and even to be humbled by nature’s
recourses once in a while. Incidences like the
wood tick fiasco remind us that we’re part
of a greater interconnected system, and offer
a keen perspective on the bigger picture so
often shrouded by the stress of our city lives.
I hope you find this issue inspires a similar
longing to reestablish that connection with
the things that nourish not only our bodies but
also feed our sense of adventure and discovery.
4 FIELD & FORAGER NOVEMBER 2015 5