Hi folks,

I've been on this list for about 2 weeks now and finally got a moment to sit
down and introduce myself.

I'm 47, live in Los Angeles, and am the single mom of a 16-yr-old daughter
(recently diagnosed as bipolar).  I'm currently unemployed (laid off at the
end of the year) but usually work as a legal assistant.  I also have
training in traditional Chinese herbalism and have a small herbal practice.

I've always been an avid hiker and camper, the farther away from
"civilization" the better.  About 10 years ago I ran across some books by
Tom Brown, Jr., who teaches "primitive" wilderness survival skills such as
animal tracking, foraging, shelter construction, natural hide tanning,
cordage making, starting a fire with a bow drill, etc.  I then found some
people in S. Calif. (Earth Skills) who studied with Brown and teach the same
stuff, and have since taken most of their classes as well as put in a lot of
"dirt time" practicing all of it.  Tracking is one of my obsessions, hence
my nickname, Tracker ;-).  Plants uses for food, medicine, cordage, etc., is
also another passion of mine.

Spiritually, I follow what I guess could be called a sort of
quasi-shamanism.  It is my experience that animals, plants, rocks, streams,
mountains, etc. are not only alive, but possess spirit, and that it is
entirely possible to communicate with them and call upon them for help (with
healing, etc.).

Philosophically, I think the development of agriculture was pretty much a
complete disaster, in terms of diet, community and culture, spirituality,
environmentally, and just about everything else.  (Anybody here read Daniel
Quinn's _Ishmael_ and _The Story of B_?)  Which is not to say I have some
romantic notion of the "noble savage" and think paleolithic/tribal life was
totally wonderful, just that it was much more successful than "civilization"
in meeting the needs that I think are important.  By that I mean not just
human needs in terms of diet, community on a human level, etc., but also
environmental sustainability, recognizing that we are a *part* of a sacred
web of life, and so on.  Personally, I believe that if so-called "civilized"
folks don't give up their present heedless consumption of things, with the
attendant poisoning of the environment, etc., we are looking at an
environmental collapse in the foreseeable future.

The paleo diet makes an enormous amount of evolutionary sense to me.  I
think it is more than just a healthy way to eat, that at its fullest
extension it is a whole different way of thinking and living.  My
implementation of it is by no means perfect but I'm working on it.  I do
some foraging and am working up to being able to hunt and trap my own meat
with "primitive" snares, traps, self bow, atlatl, etc.

I'm really enjoying reading people's posts to this list and look forward to
participating.

A note about why I put the word civilized in quotes - it comes from thinking
about Ghandi's reply when he was asked what he thought of western
civilization.  He replied that he thought it was a good idea. ;-)

Walk in Balance,
Tracker