The Daily Coyote

In "The Daily Coyote," Shreve Stockton describes her experience moving to Wyoming and being handed a baby coyote to care for.  My favorite part of the book is that she is  honest about her struggle to become the alpha after the coyote, Charlie, begins to attack her.  But I also liked that she described a few major syncronicities which she experienced.  

One synchronicity which she described was that on the anniversary of her boyfriend's daughter's death (I think 9 years after her death) she went out for a hike and experienced an exhilarating freedom which she imagined his daughter had also felt at the moment of her death.  Then she looked up and saw 15 vultures circling a hill, which she later discovered was the location where his daughter had perished in an ATV accident.  The vultures disappeared as suddenly as they'd come and Shreve and her coyote were unable to find any carcass which may have drawn them to the area.  Shreve described the mythology surrounding the vulture, that they are seen by some cultures as a symbol of death & rebirth, unity of heaven and earth.  Also, her boyfriend later shared that there were uncanny similarities between Shreve and his lost daughter--for example, they shared an extravagant love of honey.

A second sort of meaningful coincidence: Shreve fed Charlie grapes without realizing that they are poisonous for dogs.  Charlie started throwing up.  When Shreve opened the door, Charlie raced out and starting eating an old charred log thrown out from the wood stove.  Shreve discovered from a friend that wood ash was the remedy prescribed for grape poisoning.  It would appear that Charlie, who was adopted in infancy, cured himself using natural medicine.  

A third synchronicity which permeates the entire book is the thread of decisions which lead Shreve on her way and never astray.  She discovered Wyoming by accident while riding her Vespa cross country on a whim.  She rented a house site unseen and moved from New York without a job lined up.  She met her boyfriend near the house she had rented and he gave her a baby coyote on a whim--the coyote which then becomes central to her life.  Her boyfriend happened to have a little log cabin on his property which she had fantasized herself living in and which he saw as unfit to live in--she later lives alone in the tiny cabin rent-free for over a year.  When she was running out of money she happened to be introduced to a school principal (thanks to the librarian!!) that offered her a job on the spot, a job which she ended up loving.  Throughout the narrative, I had the sense that she was being led on an adventure that helps her address some personal faults, teaches her to have more structure in her life and to exude confidence as an alpha leader for her coyote.  She seems to follow synchronicity in her life and the guidance it provides her does not let her down. 

I found myself relating to Shreve on so many levels--her need for solitude and reflection, her independence and the struggle which ensued when she found herself with a baby (coyote) that depended on her, and the fact that she followed her heart despite the seeming craziness of her choices.  

Actually, coming across Shreve's book when I did was a bit of a synchronicity in and of itself.  I was at the library 5 minutes to close.  I was there to pick up What the World Eats for some research I was doing and I grabbed The Daily Coyote off the shelf just for fun.  At the same time my son (who's 3) came around the corner with a book he'd found for me on the new book display (they weren't shelved near each other for topical reasons).  It was Rurally Screwed: My Life off the Grid with the Cowboy I Love.  Apparently he was attracted by the chickens in the corner of the cover.  The two books are mirrors of each other (based only on the synopsis of Rurally Screwed which I still haven't read).  Both women moved from New York, one to Montana, the other Wyoming.  In Rurally Screwed, Jessie Knadler describes how falling in love with a cowboy while on assignment led her to give up her city lifestyle and job security to live an authentic life --making jerky, chopping firewood, raising chickens, canning, etc.  The tone from the synopsis and the title didn't sound very authentic--it made Knadler out to be so shallow I couldn't get past it.  Nonetheless I would like to read it eventually as the cover could be plain hype and it otherwise looks interesting.

Ayme Family of Tingo, Peru
from What the World Eats

I've always had a longing to live like traditional indigenous peoples, and when I came across Knadler and Shreve's books I was in the midst of an experiment to train my body to withstand the hardships of a native lifestyle.  I wanted to prepare myself to move to a mountain community of indigenous people in Mexico or Central America.  I checked out What the World Eats by Peter Menzel and Faith D'Alusio and studied the descriptions of the weekly food stuffs of indigenous families with the intention of replicating the menu.  I watched every documentary I could find on Netflix about indigenous life (for example, Keep the River on your Right, Omo: A Journey to the Primaeval Age, Pururambo)--I wasn't really happy with what I found, but I couldn't get enough.  I pondered whether I would be capable of ingesting insects or if I could deal with being infested with lice or covered with mosquito bites.  Then I started reading Jane Goodall's book My Friends the Wild Chimpanzees and watched Gorillas in the Mist about Dian Fossey's research, both because chimps and gorillas live without civilization and because I wanted to learn about the sacrifices each of the researchers made while living in the bush.  

For seven days I took ice cold showers.  My husband had told me that the time he spent living in an indigenous village in Mexico was a disaster, for both himself & for them.  "They tried to heat my water, to be nice with me," he mentioned.  "You have no idea, you won't last a week.  It's not the food, it's everything.  You might sleep on the floor with no blanket.  They're accustomed to it because they were born into it and have grown up with it.  But you might spend your life trying to manage and never succeed."  I'm trying to comprehend what he means, what it would take to transform my physicality.  So I started with cold showers, but stopped when I caught a cold.  That was two weeks ago and I'm over my cold but I haven't gone back to my training.  Shreve's book stopped me in my tracks. 

In the first portion of The Daily Coyote, Shreve describes a lifestyle which is very similar to my desires for a more natural lifestyle, though far less extreme.  She describes living alone in a tiny log home with very few amenities--a wood stove for heat and cooking, a hose outside for fresh water, and, if I remember correctly, a toilet which could only be used in the summer (in the winter she had to use the outhouse or hike up to her boyfriend's house).  She frequently ate wild game which was hunted and killed by her boyfriend.

She maintained many luxuries (Internet access, electricity, a car to get groceries, clean running water, albeit outside, a mostly sturdy home, and a respite to escape to--her boyfriend's house--when she really needed a hot shower or air conditioning).  And when the time was right she sank back into a more modern lifestyle with a much greater appreciation for running water. 

Her descriptions got me thinking more about what attracts me to the indigenous lifestyle and whether or not I need to leave my own culture & country to reach my goals--if I do leave, I will see it as temporary, and I will undoubtedly return with the full intention of maintaining the uncivilized lifestyle but instead sink back into a life of ease.  

What's more, I'm not entirely sure I would enjoy an indigenous lifestyle or even if I could handle it.  I remember when I went camping in Montana for 10 days with Outward Bound--this was 10 years ago.  I was freezing, exhausted, and dying to get back to a life of luxury in which I didn't need to constantly put in an effort for food, shelter, and hygiene.

Rimrock Lake. The Absaroka-Beartooth 
Wilderness, where I spent 10 days hiking,
 straddles Montana & Wyoming

On the other hand, the constant beauty surrounding me was breathtaking.  I remember my very first steps into the wilderness at the trail head.  I was in awe. Later on I remember feeling a deep sense of peace as I arrived to what would be our camp for the night to find a turquoise blue pond surrounded by tall alpines.  I loved that we were in wilderness--there were no hotels, no roads, and very few people.  "I was born for this!" was the resounding mantra in my mind.  

In her book, Shreve talks about days where she walked with her coyote for 5 hours in a day, in the middle of winter.  I can imagine the peace that would bring me to be out appreciating the winter instead of hiding from it inside.   Nature provides me something...when I am in it, peace is easily attainable, as if it slows my heart rate and removes all of the pointless distractions.  There is a fullness to life which is not felt when surrounded by technology, electricity, the hum of civilization.  Civilization allows me to tune out my natural instincts in a way that can make me feel devoid, hollow, empty.  When I live a more natural lifestyle, the emptiness disappears, even if I'm somewhat miserable and want to be lazy, I'm happier deep down.  And this sensation of rightness is the first reason I want to escape my modern lifestyle whether that be by spending more time outside learning how to meet my basic necessities right here in Iowa, or by moving into an indigenous community, or perhaps even an Amish community.  Shreve's book reminded me that there are many ways to live naturally.