thanks a lot anita;) i think i’m going to take some environmental classes and read more wilderness books. For Stalking the Wild Asparagus and Survival with Style, I am going to look for those books at cheap prices or maybe try to get them free online, but for now I’m reading mostly wilderness books from the new jersey library. i think i will print out what you wrote and thanks a lot for your help:) i have two books currently one of fishing and the other on hunting guns. i am also reading up on first aid. i looked up that in new jersey, a hunting and fishing class must be taken before acquiring a license. thanks a lot anita;) i can’t wait for school to start so i can talk to my teachers about some parts of the spring break work that i have questions about. current;y there seems to be a lot of steps to take, but i was thinking of starting with getting to know my home state of new jersey first, learning to drive and explore that way. after finishing college (taking courses in wildlife, environmental science, botany, etc.), i think i will get a job as a police officer and make money to help me with traveling and camping in the wild. i have learned how to make a tourniquet, splint an ankle and since i love lots of things in the medical field, i am picking up first aid quite decently. i think the one thing i need to work on is building shelters, but i could always bring a tent since i know how or use a tree shelter since i know how to use sticks to make a tree bed and i also don’t have experience fishing or hunting so i’m going to learn. i think i will try to pack as much as i can, food water, shelter materials, and fire materials such as magnesium bar, rubber (still burns if wet), matches and magnifying glass. most people think if you are well prepared that isn’t called surviving, but i think i want to learn what it’s like to live in nature, to appreciate the beauty of it and to experience the abundance of life around me and not just merely survive. but also stay relatively light henry david thoreau’s book Walden, Walk in the Woods is cool and i think it would be fun to live that way for a while. i would still be part of civilization, but be mostly surrounded by nature and learn what it had to teach. i love to garden and plant and i think i might have a small farm like thoreau did and work on it. i wish my parents would stop thinking i am inadequate to do these things because i have been camping and hiking when i was little and i love to be out in nature and help people. i think there is a beauty in nature that is calling to me to be more spiritually fulfilled. whatever path i take, i’m going to try to make the most of it and enjoy life. people go through life never seeking opportunities remaining in their conventional ways and they miss out on what’s really important, they miss out on the adventure of life. even though life is an adventure of opportunities it is also important to be level-headed and plan things well which is why i think when i go camping, i will spend lots of time researching and take some friends along to be safe. i don’t think this is the life my parents want for me to be out in nature and to follow being buddhist, but i think it’s what makes me truly me. i had a dream last night about the buddha leading me through the woods and he hid for a while when we came to a rocky path and i had to walk alone, i stumbled a lot, but i didn’t give up. when i had completed the path and the buddha reappeared, i was angry at him for abandoning me, but the buddha said “sometimes you have to take your own path in life and sometimes you have to walk alone.” then he took my hand and lead me the rest of the way. i think the dream says that i have to take the path that i’m meant to take even if i’m uncertain where it leads or if i have to take little steps toward it. there will always be obstacles and people who are criticizing, but i know my place now is to be in nature, to learn how to be positive spiritually and help others. my interests in science and the medical field have lead me to consider being a spiritual counselor. my friends andrew, dave and my special friend all love nature and science. dave used to run cross country and hike, while andrew has been camping and my special friend like me sees the beauty in nature. if my special friend ends up being my soul mate, i think it would be great to go camping together and if we end up going separate ways, i’ll still keep spreading spiritual love.

http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/hunted.htm