Just discovered this piece.. and wow. I loved it. Most writing in this vein reaches for the consoling version and stops there. The grateful prayer over the animal, the conservation line, the clean redemption. You let all of that in and then refused to let it do the work it usually does. The goose you wouldn't take. The man who admitted the violence makes things feel real. You called that honesty and you were right, because it's the part most edit out. Sitting with a death you caused without sanding the edges off it is harder than grief and rarer than good prose. This has both, but it's the honesty I'll appreciated most.
Abram -- I can't tell you how much this made my day. Why rest on our story laurels when we can tell the truth? Sometimes, I think this is why people misunderstand hunters and hunting culture. I once got into an argument with a group of venerated hunting elders who told me there is no violence in hunting. No violence! We put arrows and bullets through incredible and beautiful living beings, and somehow we are made better by it. There is so much dissonance there. It is never not interesting <3
Dream-time is what old stories speak of when "the animals could speak to the people." I think in many ways they still do, but there have to be a lot of silence and patience, inside and out, to hear.
This piece was a really good reminder of the fact some experiences can take many years, or even a lifetime, to understand and reckon with. Thanks for publishing it, I really enjoyed all the dimensions it covered, the aspects of myth, dreams, and so on that are so often passed over in our hyper-materialistic and overly rationalized society. Yet it also doesn't wallow in grief or sadness with no way out. A story with life about death—a breath of fresh air.
Just Wow. Inspiring, honest, I’m transported to these landscapes through your words. My dad also comes to see me in dreams, it was special to read about yours. Bravo <3
I don’t remember who said it, but I think it succinctly captures the contest between our culture about killing and our vestigial instincts: “I stood for a moment in the oldest stillness on earth.”
Superlative writing, Nicole. You hit the mark on so many issues. Your comment about magic, and the experience of land-rooted lives, feels especially relevant to me here in Scotland. Thank you for sharing this 🙏
Just discovered this piece.. and wow. I loved it. Most writing in this vein reaches for the consoling version and stops there. The grateful prayer over the animal, the conservation line, the clean redemption. You let all of that in and then refused to let it do the work it usually does. The goose you wouldn't take. The man who admitted the violence makes things feel real. You called that honesty and you were right, because it's the part most edit out. Sitting with a death you caused without sanding the edges off it is harder than grief and rarer than good prose. This has both, but it's the honesty I'll appreciated most.
Abram -- I can't tell you how much this made my day. Why rest on our story laurels when we can tell the truth? Sometimes, I think this is why people misunderstand hunters and hunting culture. I once got into an argument with a group of venerated hunting elders who told me there is no violence in hunting. No violence! We put arrows and bullets through incredible and beautiful living beings, and somehow we are made better by it. There is so much dissonance there. It is never not interesting <3
Dream-time is what old stories speak of when "the animals could speak to the people." I think in many ways they still do, but there have to be a lot of silence and patience, inside and out, to hear.
This piece was a really good reminder of the fact some experiences can take many years, or even a lifetime, to understand and reckon with. Thanks for publishing it, I really enjoyed all the dimensions it covered, the aspects of myth, dreams, and so on that are so often passed over in our hyper-materialistic and overly rationalized society. Yet it also doesn't wallow in grief or sadness with no way out. A story with life about death—a breath of fresh air.
Just Wow. Inspiring, honest, I’m transported to these landscapes through your words. My dad also comes to see me in dreams, it was special to read about yours. Bravo <3
I don’t remember who said it, but I think it succinctly captures the contest between our culture about killing and our vestigial instincts: “I stood for a moment in the oldest stillness on earth.”
Wow! Love that frame. The oldest stillness. Small truths <3
Superlative writing, Nicole. You hit the mark on so many issues. Your comment about magic, and the experience of land-rooted lives, feels especially relevant to me here in Scotland. Thank you for sharing this 🙏
Extra good writing . . . thank you so much. This story covers a lot of ground.
Thank YOU for taking the time to read it. Seriously. I so appreciate your note <3
Everyone grieves in there own way, your way is interesting. One can envy your thought process and the flow of your words, good job
Thank you so much Walter!