From my Dad to my Father..
Before starting video I will let you know it is 15 minutes long. Although I am speaking, they are my father's words and the answer to so many of my questions. I asked that you please view the whole video and the accompanying words. It is important now more than ever that we work together. I no longer have space in my sphere for those that don't challenge me, energize me, and make me strive to be the best I can every day my New Year's resolution is that. I will continue to do the best I can with the resources available to me while following the way of the caretaker and being a true friend, and if you think of me as a friend, please watch the entirety! Your the BEST.
“Proper teaching is recognized with ease. You can know it without fail because it awakens within you that sensation which tells you this is something you have always known.”
Before we begin, today's regularly scheduled program,
Auction News..
Over the course of 16 years and 11 moves, I have consistently carried and cared for three boxes of priceless family history everything from my father's journal entries, business records, the original sketches for the Tracker knife before it was the Tracker knife, and some of the most powerful teachings. I will learn from for the rest of my days include many of the drawings from the field guides that were drawn by my sister, and have my father's handwriting on the back as far as gate patterns with the tracks or page numbers and identifiers on other drawings. After speaking with Celeste, we have decided to give you a chance to help both of our organizations transition into a new era and own a one-of-a-kind piece of art that you will cherish, therefore allowing me to lug one less thing around! You'll be a maid aware of my plans for the tens of thousands of photos I havespanning decades! Long story short I will post for drawings of the time with an opening bid if you would like to bid on that item, you can contact me and I will update the price at the end of four days. I will let you know if you want if so, we will arrange payment. I will mail you your art with my own special gift and instructions on how to mount it 40% of all money generated will be given back to my roots that being the Tracker school so that Celeste and River and the rest of the Tracker family can you keep the home fire burning? It will also help me get out from underneath the crushing debt. I'm under and continue along with my projects to honor my father's legacy and continue teaching I just added three new drawings last night so the clock is ticking click here to check out the page with the offerings. I will typically auction off 4 of the same theme at a time. And each purchase comes with a contract that you must sign promising to care for the piece of art and passing on its story.
Also, around the time of the memorial, I will be offering a one day class with a suggested donation. All funds generated will go entirely to the Tracker school and to preserving the Pine barrens primitive camp.
Felines!
Let the Tale Begin!
On the morning of Christmas Eve, I woke up sobbing from a dream. It wasn't a nightmare, and I did not remember the dream at first. It wasn't until until well into my organization of my early family history and out of the Tracker school, I picked up a photo that my dad took of me the day he gave me my first camera in 1985, on my birthday, and then the dream came flooding back. All at once I was at the old Tracker farm hugging my most favorite oak tree, a giant grandmother and I was sobbing into the tree, dreading the fact that in order to not completely go under there was a real possibility I might have to part ways with my camera gear. If it were just camera gear that I purchased personally I probably wouldn't have not thought twice about it as I have over 70,000 images and close to 100 hours of video footage to work with. I could not pick up a camera for years and turn out new videos and photos almost daily.
Why will I never sell my camera equipment? Because it is a physical manifestation of my father's love for me, my art, how I weave it into my teaching, and wanting to see me shine. He pulled off a trick and surprised me.
By literally making the impossible a reality!
On my birthday last year, I get a notification that a package has been delivered to my mailbox. For over a year, my father had been telling me that when the new Nikon camera came out he wanted to get it so that I had the best possible tools. The day before my birthday, he called me and said “I'm sorry son, it's going to be another few months. I've tried everywhere. I know. I just can't find one.” I had no expectations , as the clerk walked around the corner carrying a box from B&H photography I knew he somehow pulled it off! I almost passed out. I was shaking trying to open the box and just as I opened it he called me and said I got you dirtbag! take me some pretty pictures!
Back in dreamland after I conveyed my situation to my father, oh, and by the way, he wasn't my father and his elder years, but my father from the cover of the Tracker first edition, dressed in camo carrying a camera. he looked at me and cocked his head and got that rakish grin and said “Son you selling your camera Equipment would be the equivalent of removing one of your arms and legs. There's always another way all you have to do is look inside! And shed some weight!" And then he vanished. That is when I woke up and had the idea when I've been bantering back-and-forth about for a long time about auctioning off the drawings. while each one is one of a kind original it does appear in many field guides the most important treasures to me are the notes and journal entries, and the photos that will serve as a backbone for a massive photo timeline that I am building which I need help with. More on that later!
My father had away with words that I can only dream of. As I troll through treasures of Tracker past, I came upon a brochure for a wilderness area in Washington state scribbled all over the front and back cover are his sit spot notes from each day he was there are two or three sentences in each entry, but in those three sentences he was able to convey a novel.
Currently, I am back in Portland housesitting for a friend. Not too long from now, he returns from his trip, I will make my way back south to California for a little bit, then onto Texas, where I will do a short teaching stint with Chris Hyde and Natureversity in Austin. I'm excited to spend some time in Texas and do some exploration and catch up with a few old friends. I plan on arriving back on the East Coast in time for the Maps meet, which is put on by Ancestral Knowledge every year. I'm so incredibly excited because it's been far too long.
From there, I will head to New Jersey well ahead of my father's celebration of life to help out in anyway I can. Snme my tree cant grow without roots. I will be doing a day long class with a suggested donation and will be donating 100% of the proceeds to the Tracker school as they move forward into a new era. I will also hang out for a bit after the event helping out in anyway I can and then I will probably head north visiting old friends and places not seen in ages. All well, working on the documentary and biography and teaching my classes.
Regarding the drawings, 40% of the proceeds will go back to the Tracker School. A wise man once told me, “You can’t get where you’re going if you don’t know where you’re coming from.” Trackolytes may be my brain, but the Tracker School remains my heart and soul.
Since starting this mission to share my father’s story, I’ve uncovered treasures like a note my dad wrote to my mom the day I was born—when he almost didn’t make it because he was on a book tour for The Tracker. Among these are also journal entries, including one I shared in a video. This entry is the most sacred text I possess, for it answers a question I’ve carried for decades: When did my dad become my father?
My dad was the kind of man who’d pull over on a highway to wade through a swamp and catch snapping turtles. He was part practical joker, part daredevil. Over the years, he pulled off countless hilarious pranks, many of which I’ll eventually write about—but not just yet. While he was delightfully humorous, my dad was also a warrior and protector. I remember being about five when my mom, wearing a coyote-skin jacket my dad made, was sprayed with red paint during an anti-fur protest in New York City. In a flash, my dad defended her with such precision that the aggressor landed 15 feet away without being touched. My dad embodied readiness for the next mystery, the next track, the next challenge.
At his peak, my dad was a cross between a Jedi master, rodeo clown, and the consummate Coyote.
Then, one day, my dad transformed. The carefree, wild spirit became a man who realized he was in over his head. Built up to near-mythic proportions by publishers and the media, he was taken from the garden and placed on a pedestal, scrutinized from all angles. My father knew he was being manipulated, as publishers demanded more "story" and less "knowledge." The fame, coupled with growing responsibilities and students, and always being watched.
Seemingkly overnight a divider went up between us. It felt like we were slipping apart, separated in a crowd.
I’ve only experienced a fraction of what he endured, but even that has shown me the delicate balance idolization demands. When we place someone on a pedestal, we risk disillusionment if they falter, leaving the admired individual trapped in the impossible task of meeting expectations at the expense of their humanity.
Let’s honor those we admire by embracing their full humanity, not just the image we create for them. After all, we’re all human, we all make mistakes, and no one has all the answers. Knowledge, however, is available to those who ask and truly listen. And remember no matter what social media may tell you or things you see throughout your daily life you are just a special and unique as the people you are trained to emulate. So conserve the energy and focus on being your one true self free of masks and trust that you will be accepted. If you genuinely take the steps then I would be honored to call you friend. Thank you for your continued support next week. I'm going to be announcing a late bird online class sale so stay tuned for that news as well and remember.
The last time I had a conversation with my father, he made me promise him a few things. That I would do whatever I could to carry the Vision, and more than anything he wanted a true family business. Therefore this summer, I will be available to the Tracker school family as a resource during class times on a volunteer basis. And begin the process of beginning again.
Remember
People may see your deeds, but creation sees your motives.
Don't let knowing get in the way of learning
And remember that every day you wake up is the first day of the rest of your life!
Join me for a free event this today at 1 PM. Click the link to participate: Free Event - New Year’s Celebration.
Peace, Love, Joy, and Purpose to all.
-T3
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