Greetings
William Robichaud, Bill Robichaud here - “Bird” to my family.
I live in a 1930s, rented farmhouse on 800 acres of mostly wooded hills in the Driftless Area of southwestern Wisconsin. The face of the land here is rugged and old, having been missed by the smoothing effects of the last glaciation.
The theme of Bird in the Bush is an exploration of not going to the grocery store. I last went grocery shopping on December 23, 2019, and the idea for this experiment came afterwards, on a whim. I still sometimes grab a bite or a cuppa at cafes and restaurants, but no more than I did before. In fact, it’s now much less of course, in this truly novel corona time. I’m even more dependent now on what I have on hand or can procure myself.
I don’t intend this as an exercise in deprivation, but rather an exploration of abundance, and where I can find it each day. Nor is it an attempt at radical self-sufficiency. The opposite, in fact – an exploration of interdependence, in and with the world.
Inspiration comes from the fact that I take deep satisfaction in growing, foraging, hunting, fishing and preserving my own food. I’m not especially skilled at any one of these, but I learn something with each pass through each season. And for even the most accomplished gardener or hunter, the world is a perpetual classroom.
I also enjoy giving away what I harvest and collect. And writing about it is one way I can do so for those of you who don’t live down the road.
Welcome along.