It gets lonely for rewilding folk out there. You can’t even discuss the things you hold dear, because more often than not, the people around you will consider you “eccentric” at best, and insane at worst. It can become deeply alienating. Even the most ardent person will feel doubt, even shame, beginning to take over. Great things happen when people with similar perspectives meet. I’ve seen the energy of that rare affirmation before. Such people can build off of each other’s energy, and start something really great. In exile, we’ve found ourselves with very few people we can really talk to. We want to help foster a local rewilding “scene,” a local network for sharing skills, ideas, and perspectives. If you live in the Allegheny, Monongahela, or Upper Ohio watersheds, please consider joining the Rewild Pittsburgh group I started on Facebook. From there, I hope we can expand and do more, but first, we need to find each other!

According to common cliché, you always remember what you happened to do at the moment you first learn terrible news. Maybe you remember what you did when you first heard that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center, or when someone shot JFK. You might remember what you did when you learned that a family member had died. I remember what I did when I first got a phone call from my mother, and she told me that they’d given away the family cabin.