Literature Appetizer
Ben Kusserow
A Northern Appalachian's Journey

Recently I just finished Appalachia North by Matthew Ferrence. In it, he recounts the complex relationship he still has with the land as a Northern Appalachian. Typically when I finish a book I write a Literature Appetizer to get people a taste of what they will find. Since his book is such a personal journey, I would not do it justice by recounting his life.

Many of his experiences reflect my own experience growing up in Western PA. So instead of condensing his journey, I thought I would condense mine.

The Hero’s Journey is a common literary structure where the hero of the story departs home to do a great act, and then returns victorious. My Northern Appalachian Journey is a bit different, but has a similar structure of three parts; Living in Water, Succeeding by Leaving, and The Mountains are Calling.

A Northern Appalachian's Journey

martens

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Martens in the Compost Shed!?

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Martens in the Compost Shed!?

The North Cascade’s Institute prides itself on being a “wildlife wise” campus at the Environmental Learning Center. We want to make sure that none of our natural neighbors are eating any human produced food so that they maintain their “wildness” and are not relying on humans for survival.

We do this through leaving no crumbs on any backpacking trip, keeping all food behind closed doors and composting our food in a large, concrete building under lock and key. What happens, then, when two martens are found running around the compost shed?!