Woman vs. Wild

Hello. My name is Shaina White and I am going to show YOU how to survive in the outdoors if you ever lock your keys in your apartment. I will be parachuting into the middle of residential College Place, WA to give you an accurate example.

Now, the first thing you’ll want to do is build yourself some sort of shelter. In this part of Washington, we are lucky to have a few trees, which make a suitable location for a lean-to. 

After you’ve chosen your tree, clear a small area and gather plenty of sticks. Poke 2 sticks into the ground and lay a stick across them to make the lean-to framework. Lay sticks all over the place to keep out the wind. Then, gather bark chunks for the roof.

Good. Even though rain is not too big a problem in southeastern Washington, it is springtime so you’ll want to be prepared just in case. I recommend some makeshift thatching to finish off your roof:

Now that you have your shelter finished, you may want to plant a garden because you never know how long it will take your husband to get home from school with the second apartment key. (In residential areas, there is not sufficient wild animal and plant life alone to support your diet).

For the garden, clear a small area and build a fence by sticking spare wood into the ground. This fence will keep out pesky critters that may want to eat your veggies. Better yet, the fence my tempt said critters to try and find a way in to your garden, and then you can eat the critters along with your fresh veggies. Don’t forget to plant your seeds!

Well done! Now, a few finishing touches and you’ll be ready to wait out the afternoon in comfort and style:
 
A simple flower adds such a cheery air to a rustic lean-to.

Hurricane Jay: unfortunately, there are some natural forces that even a seasoned outdoorswoman like myself cannot avoid:

note: While the situation depicted above did really happen, we only had to wait about half an hour out in the yard.