Connecting with nature

SANDPOINT — Stories have always served a purpose, even in ancient times when verbal stories were the only option.

These stories were colorful and entertaining, yet each one contained a lesson. Typically directed at children, the stories taught right from wrong with a mix of tradition, culture and nature.

"They would try to have these stories that were rich and funny and interesting, but had a kernel of ethics and morality wrapped inside," said Ken Fischman.

Fischman, a local author, said this is comparable to what he wanted to accomplish with his book, "Sleeping With Wolves."

"I thought it would be very good if I could write a series of stories and essays which would inform people, but would also be entertaining and hopefully funny — at least once in awhile," Fischman said.

Fischman is a geneticist who worked at Columbia University researching the effects of environmental agents on DNA and chromosomes. He also has a passion for nature. He and his wife of nearly 30 years, Lanie, moved to Idaho in 2001 and reside in the Pack River area north of Sandpoint.

His book, which released this year, contains a collaboration of stories from his own experiences and the experiences and stories he has heard from others. He and his wife have always been storytellers, Fischman said, so it was time to put those stories in writing.

"They are various stories about man's interaction with nature and science," Fischman said. "But mostly about how our interaction with nature results, very often, in unexpected results.

There is a movement, he said, of people concerned about children and their disconnection to nature, because their lives are "wrapped up" in electronic gadgets.

"We think they are lacking something in their development if they don't get out into nature," Fischman said.

This is called "Nature Deficit Disorder," and can cause depression and anxiety. In the last part of his book, Fischman discusses groups and individuals who are attempting to bring children back to nature. One is a located in the Inland Northwest called Twin Eagles Wilderness Awareness, an immersion program connecting kids with nature.

Rabbitstick Rendezvous in Rexburg is a group Fischman belongs to, which people come from all over the world to learn ancient skills. A rabbitstick was probably the first weapon that humans ever used, he said. Fischman is fascinated by the ancient skills of the hunter-gatherers, and said many of the people who attend Rabbitstick Rendezvous are "very colorful," which he relays in his stories as well.

Some of the other stories in Fischman's book include he and Lanie's experience as caretakers of Stonebraker Wilderness Ranch in central Idaho, and "The Tracks at Chauvet Cave," where Fischman lays out the possibilities of the ancient tracks discovered in the cave. The tracks of an 8-year-old child had been preserved next to tracks from a wolf — were they friends or was the wolf stalking the child?

"I put together a lot of evidence," Fischman said. "Can't prove it one way or another because this is 28,000 years later, but it's fun to speculate."

Information about Fischman and his book, as well as a couple of stories found in the book, such as "The Incredible Shrinking Megafauna" and "The Pleistocene Massacres," can be found on his website at ancientpathwaystoasustainablefuture.org.