It sounds good, doesn’t it? Ah, all alone on a deserted island. How idyllic is that? Before you start packing those Beach Reads or
the latest Nora Roberts - reality check. Go watch Cast Away with Tom Hanks and rethink that thought.
Book # 1: You will need a good survival guide. There are many on the market, but you need
one that will prepare you for island life, deserted island life. If you are anything like me, a city girl and
a book nerd, you might be able to catch a fish or identify a coconut, but what
comes after that? Have you ever had to gut a fish or crack open a coconut?
This is not Sea Island or Joe’s
Crab Shack – you are on a deserted island, you are it – chief
cook and bottle washer.
Now, I took Camping as a PE
credit in college, but we never had to hunt and gather for our meals,
everything was frozen in individual plastic, zippered bags, and packed in ice
in our coolers. We learned how to build
a fire using two sticks and some tinder, but what is considered tinder on an
island paradise? Are there even sticks on a palm-infested island?
Yup, you will need a good
survival guide and all the basic accoutrements listed inside that ensure
survival – a knife or a machete or both, string, flint, maybe one of those shiny
blankets that keep you warm in cold weather and cool in hot weather. Peruse the book wisely and get packing.
Book # 2 – Okay, now that you
have thatched a roof, caught a crustacean, and shaved a couple of spear heads
into deadly points; it might help to figure out where your island paradise is
situated. You will need an atlas, a map
of some sort, maybe also a map of the constellations. It helps to get one’s
bearings and figure out what might lie in store for you. Are you in some typhoon alley? A tsunami’s path? A pirate’s stopover? An atlas of the earth and sky will help you
decide if you should move your thatched haven to a higher, more secure spot. You survived this far, it is best to be
prepared, just in case.
Book # 3 – A cookbook. You’ve mastered building a fire, catching
your food, protecting your domain, but just how many ways can one stomach
grilled fish, boiled seaweed, and fresh coconut? It might help to have one of
those fish and seafood cookbooks or a basic herb cookbook that will help you identify
herbs, roots, and non-poisonous berries. Variety is the spice of life.
Book # 4 – A tome of some
heft. Ah, we finally get to the restful
part of our idyllic getaway. Without the
use of electronics, you will eventually get weary of “being in the moment,” and
looking at the endless panorama of sea and surf. After a weary day of survival, you will need some
form of mental entertainment.
You don’t want to end up talking
to a basketball and giving him a Christian name do you? Bring along a lengthy tome,
something like the Bible, the Webster’s Dictionary or Roget’s Thesaurus, maybe
the collected works of Shakespeare or a Michener novel. You always wanted to learn Italian, German,
or Chinese, so bring along a language book, any book that will take lots of your
time to study. You have it to spare. Why bore Wilson the basketball with
banalities when you can have a lively discussion with him on the pros and cons
of Creationism versus Evolution? You two can chatter away in Italiano, count to
twenty in German, discuss Chinese history in Standard Mandarin. Oh, yay.
Book # 5 – And finally, let us
not forget a journal with lots of pages and
pencils. I would not recommend pens
because they run out of ink easily and the ink might smudge if wet, so you will
get a lot more out of a pencil. You can
always sharpen them with your knife or machete and use them until they are tiny
nubs.
I realize people do not PLAN on
being cast away on a deserted island, but the next time you pack for a trip and
you grab “a little something to read” while on the beach or resting in between
tours of the sights, you might
reconsider which book or books make the trek with you. Just saying.