This was a week for getting reminded of unconventional freedoms — and unconventional Outlawry (though some might call it just plain criminality).<\/p>\n
First, we got fascinated with Christopher Knight (aka the Maine Hermit), whose solitary life some found irresistible<\/a>. Imagine speaking only one word to another human in 27 years and sleeping outdoors through 27 northern winters. Imagine doing that, yet remaining so un-resourceful that you think stealing from a camp for handicapped kids is a legitimate way to survive.<\/p>\n Then yesterday afternoon, NPR interviewed Mike Brodie<\/a> — not their usual sort of book author. At 27, Brodie is a freelance auto mechanic who disdains any claim to thinking of himself as a writer or photographer. But at 17, he started hopping freight trains, taking along a Polaroid camera. Now he’s published A Period of Juvenile Prosperity<\/i><\/a>, a photo memoir of that Outlaw life.<\/p>\n Most of us are more respectful of property than the Maine Hermit and more settled than Mike Brodie’s friends. But tell the truth: Do you envy them a bit? Do you sometimes wish you could just walk away from the life of earning and spending and getting, the life of being responsible, filling out paperwork and carrying credit cards and IDs? Do you sometimes long even to give up some of your comforts? Do you think you could do it in the future? Or have you done something like that in your past?<\/b><\/p>\n I’m not asking if you’re ready to chuck it all, or if you approve of train-hopping hoboes or thieving hermits. Just wondering if you ever feel the urge, ever acted on it — or ever might.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This was a week for getting reminded of unconventional freedoms — and unconventional Outlawry (though some might call it just plain criminality). First, we got fascinated with Christopher Knight (aka the Maine Hermit), whose solitary life some found irresistible. Imagine speaking only one word to another human in 27 years and sleeping outdoors through 27 northern winters. Imagine doing that, yet remaining so un-resourceful that you think stealing from a camp for handicapped kids is a legitimate way to survive. Then yesterday afternoon, NPR interviewed Mike Brodie — not their usual sort of book author. At 27, Brodie is a…<\/p>\n