When it is as cold as it has been the last few days here in the north country, in the teens and below zero, these sturdy creatures looking so at home in the elements reminded me that my own toes were cold with how many layers of man made, gore-tex, thermo teck, poly fleeced, engineered boots and socks? How can you not feel warm just looking at them! Got me to thinking about all the natural products that insulate the best…goose down, wool socks, silk camisoles, leather boots and yes…fur! I’m all for technology and mans ingenuity at creating warm fabrics from a test tube and good thing we have these concoctions to make the elements a bit more friendly. But there is a part of me that appreciates the romanticism of scenes right out of Dr. Zhivago…the sleigh rolling across the frozen landscape with it’s occupants snuggled under layers of fur and heads wrapped in fox or sable. Wonder what that was like, truly living off the land and having to be more concerned about surviving the elements rather than being politically correct.
That notion got me to thinking about fur when it was used as a clothing and bodily decoration and then as a