It comes to mind in today's society that we are the product of a push button world. The remote, CD player, Microwave, electronic eye for water on/off. The average child spends four hours a day watching TV. A Drill Instructor at Parris Island says, "'The main problem we have with our recruits is that; most can't do one pull-up.' We hear about the overweight problem with the youth today, and the fast foods with all their additives."

Could it be that we have traded our health, and basic survival skills for the technology we have developed to make life easier?

When our lights go off it is a major problem. We don't look at the sun to tell the time, or make fire without a match now.

Could it be that we have lost those basic skills to till the soil, sow the seed, harvest our own food, and make use of the materials at hand to cover ourselves? How many of us can read a compass, or guide by the stars?  If we found a situation where we needed shelter to protect us from the elements; how well would we be able to do that with no tools, other than the materials around us, provided by the landscape?

I am talking about fashioning a blow gun and making darts to harvest a deer; using the meat for fuel, the bone for tools, sinew for thread, and hide to provide warmth.

Do we know the basic flora and fauna in our area? Can we distinguish what plants are non-poisonous for consumption and those that might be used for medicinal purposes? What about constructing simple snares?

It seems that society comes around in full circles, and one day some of these basic skills may be necessary to all. If we become too complacent, and dependant, the basic skills of survival might become lost. I, for one, hope to pass some of this information along to my children, so that they might have a better chance. The future is theirs, and they will take up the gauntlet for us. We have left quite a mess for them to clean up when we are gone.