The Extreme Survival Almanac

The Extreme Survival Almanac, Reid Kincaid, Paladin Press, 2002

What do you do when your car dies in the desert, or the small plane in which you are a passenger crashes in the water a long way from land, or someone on your hiking trip suffers a major injury miles from the nearest help? That's what this book is all about.

It covers a surprising number of subjects, all having to do with survival when help is a long way away. It doesn't tell you how to prevent an accident from happening, but concentrates on what to do now that it has happened. Don't Panic. Among the subjects explored are: how to build a shelter, starting a fire, finding and purifying water, edible and inedible plants and animals, waiting for rescue, traveling to safety on land or sea and navigation with and without a compass. There is also a large section on survival medicine, covering everything from CPR to spinal injuries to frostbite to infection to insect bites to seasickness. The author hasn't forgotten psychological first aid, too. After a disaster has happened, psychological injuries can be worse than physical injuries.

I'm not sure if this is the book to bring on a trip, because you don't want to be frantically reading the section on moving the seriously injured (for instance) when someone is lying on the ground in serious need of medical help. But, it is an excellent book to get familiar with before you leave.

Those who do a lot of traveling in remote areas need this book. Those whose traveling is limited to hiking trips in a national park or state forest also need this book. It presents things in a very clear, step-by-step way, with lots of illustrations. Even those of us whose traveling is limited to watching TV travel shows could really use this book. Theres no way to know when or where, but, one day, it will come in very handy.

Pretending the Bed Is a Raft

Pretending The Bed is a Raft, Nanci Kincaid, Algonquin Books, 1997

This is a group of stories about women and their (occasionally difficult) relationships with men. The one exception is about a male Thoreau scholar reluctant to leave the uncomfortable comfort of his wife for one of his female students. Another story is about the education and character-strengthening of the wife of a losing small-town football coach. Also included is the story of Norma June, a cosmetics addict who is aching to be noticed by the male next-door neighbor fooling around with her daughter. Another story is about a trio of women driving through a Colorado winter to pick up the ashes of the husband of one of the women who died in an auto accident.

All of these stories are moving, well done, and full of characters who could easily be a neighbor or relative anywhere. The title story, about a young wife and mother with terminal cancer who works through a list of Things To Do Before Death, actually reaches the rarefied atmosphere of Wow.