thesevagabondshoes.org

These books explore different cultures from around the world, written by insiders as well as outside observers; lives in a state of transition and those being rebuilt after conflict and trauma; and snapshots of a traditional way of life now irreversibly changed. Tell My Horse: Voodoo and Life in Haiti and Jamaica – Zora Neale Hurston Writer and folklorist Zora Neale Hurston gives an account of her experiences in Jamaica and Haiti in the 1930s, as she documented voodoo rituals and practices. Child soldiers, victims of violence, nuns and priests that attempted to provide sanctuary, and former dictator and warlord Valentine Strasser, provide testimonies alongside those of western missionaries, aid workers, mercenary fighters, and British Army officers from the peacekeeping force deployed to the country. Tagaq tells a powerful story of a teen Inuk girl in a small village in far north Nunavut in the 1970s, where life is shaped by violence, substance abuse and addiction, and sexual abuse, interwoven with a dreamlike world of spirits, myth, visions, and Arctic nature.

Reporting on the historic winter first ascent of K2, Mark Horell examines the collaborative summiting by a team of Nepalese climbers, and reflects on the often overlooked presence of Sherpas in the history of high-altitude mountaineering. Akash Kapur explores the notion that our romantic perceptions of the high Himalaya obscure the realities of the people who make the region home, and how histories, geographies, and ecologies or mountain areas are often shaped by expectations. A longform essay from 2018 by Cal Flynn on the culling of deer in the Scottish Highlands, that dives deeply into the local and national politics of killing for conservation, slaughter tourism, the culture and tradition of sporting estates, and the long-standing inequalities of land ownership and community participation. On Natural Landscapes, Metaphorical Living, Warlpiri Identity Powerful words from Barry Lopez about turning ecological grief into fierce passion, and passion into advocacy for the natural world on our besieged planet.

Lockdown in England in November, followed by a national lockdown across the UK from late December onward means I’ve been absolutely nowhere in the last three months, save a short visit to see my parents and sister in south Aberdeenshire on Christmas Day itself. My only real disappointment over the past three months has been that it was a phenomenal winter in the Cairngorms, with record-breaking amounts of snow and sub-zero temperatures, and I haven’t been able to get out to enjoy it or make use of the new ski gear This time last year, we were approaching the end of our season in Antarctica, where I’d had the chance to play about on a set of snowshoes (MSR Lighting Ascent) to get around the island for surveying penguins and checking camera equipment and fell in love with them. I’m continuing to collect quality mountain days too, and hope to be able to book myself on to a Summer Mountain Leader training course by the beginning of summer.

By using the gralloch (offal), blood, suet, etc. of animals to make haggis, and similar products like black pudding and white pudding, and so on, crofters could ensure that not a scrap of available protein was wasted, and preserved food was available to fill the hungry gap through late winter and early spring when vegetables and grain were in short supply. The haggis is served with tatties (mashed potato) and neeps (mashed swede/rutabaga), or clapshot (mashed tatties and neeps mixed together), and a whisky cream sauce or just a dram of whisky poured over. Drain the lentils and the barley, then add the lentils and pearl barley to the vegetable mix, stirring in thoroughly. Of course, the correct accompaniment for the traditional Burns Supper haggis, neeps, and tatties is a malt whisky, and there’s hundreds of possibilities depending on your personal taste.