Once per week going forward I’m going to share one of my “SHEROES”. The wisdoms of women who have shaped my thinking and hoed the path ahead of me.
One of my absolute sheroes and a woman who has had a huge impact on my attitude in the outdoors is Audrey Sutherland. As a single mother of 4 she took up solo paddling in her 60s and paddled over 8,000 miles of the Alaskan and British Columbian wilds, crossing gentle paths with bears and wolves and foraging her food as she went. I could write many things about Audrey, but I would love to share a list she wrote for her children that offers an insight into her extraordinary leadership as a mother.
“What Every Kid Should Be Able to Do by Age Sixteen”
- Swim 400 yards easily
- Do dishes in a strange house, and your own
- Cook a simple meal
- See work to be done and do it
- Care for tools and always put them away after use
- Splice or put a fixture on an electric cord
- Know basic information about five careers that suit you
- Volunteer to work for a month in each of those fields
- Clean a paintbrush after use
- Change a diaper, and a tire
- Listen to an adult talk with interest and empathy
- Take initiative and responsibility for school work and home chores
- Dance with any age
- Clean a fish and dress a chicken
- Drive a car with skill and sanity
- Know and take responsibility for sexual conception and protection when needed
- Know the basic five of first aid: restore breathing and heartbeat, control bleeding, dilute poisons, immobilize fractures, treat for shock
- Write a business letter
- Spend the family income for all bills and necessities for two months
- Know basic auto mechanics and simple repair
- Find your way across a strange city using public transportation
- Be happy and comfortable alone for ten days, ten miles from the nearest other person
- Save someone drowning using available equipment
- Find a paying job and hold it for a month
- Read at a tenth grade level
- Read a topographic map and a chart
- Know the local drug scene for yourself
- Handle a boat safely and competently (canoe, kayak, skiff, sailboat)
- Operate a sewing machine and mend your own clothes
- Operate a computer as needed
- Do your own laundry
I highly recommend her books PADDLING HAWAII, PADDLING NORTH AND PADDLING MY OWN CANOE. Or for a quick fix, READ MORE ABOUT AUDREY on the Patagonia blog HERE