We’re slowly, casually compiling a Homestead Lexicon in this blog, as we find more and more unusual words and terms from around the world that apply to our life. So far, we have Hygge, and Upterrlainarluta, and a growing list of words that describe human interaction with the forest, such as Shinrin-Yoku and Waldeinsamkeit.
Here’s another: “Werefisteria’. Werefisteria is an Old English term that means to wander longingly through the forest in search of mystery.
This is a forest that offers mystery! (Photo: Mark A. Zeiger).
Well, we’ve got that covered, don’t we? Werefesteria covers a variety of my family’s activities, from foraging to timber cruising to avoiding grumpy animal neighbors (see “Seek and Ye Shall Find”: Setting Search Images), to Aly’s and my favorite activity, “rambling” (see “Lost Lake” Ramble).
In about a week, my primary werefisteria will come in the form of the annual Tier II Subsistence Moose Hunt. If the definition above doesn’t cover this endeavor, what does? I’m fond of calling it the Armed Mushroom Hunt, as I have yet to sight a legal bull moose among the moose that live in our forest, in or out of the hunting season (see Measuring Hunting Success in Mushrooms). Each year I pull a permit, I dress in camo, load up a rifle and a pack full of butchering gear, and wander as if lost around the peninsula, in search of moose and other mysteries.
Essentially, every walk through the forest qualifies as werefisteria for us. Those mysteries, large and small have meaning in our lives, so we need to be open to them.
I’m somewhat at a loss to find adequate words to describe our various wanderings through the forest. That effort comprises a good portion of the essays on this blog, such as Hunting Haunts. If I keep at it, I might feel I’ve gotten it right eventually.