By Jessica Wiles
In March of 2020, when the great wave of the pandemic crashed into Montana, it halted all plans. It halted all plots for a winter escape. Most ominously for Montana families like mine, it halted all child care. And in its wake, customary strategies for managing daily life with small children vanished.
As a coping strategy, I attempted to fill that void with outside time as much as I could manage. Coordinating alternating work schedules with my husband, I dragged my four-year old on hikes over numerous local trails with a backpack full of warm clothes and sugary snacks, while balancing my one-year old on my hip. My son, as many kids do, enthusiastically collected nature objects, filling his coat pockets with pieces for his nature collection—a pine cone or a rock, or to my dismay, animal scat. Yet a daily battle developed in my attempts to convince, and then bribe, my kids to leave our house.
Luckily, one day early in the shut-down, we needed work on our sewer line. Normally, I don’t put sewer line work in the good fortune category. But as luck would have it, this plumber, on his way into our basement, noticed a large elk antler in our kitchen that my husband found years ago while hunting. He commented on the large number and unusual placement of the tines, and his excitement grew as he divulged his love for shed hunting. My son, I said, would absolutely love to find an antler, did he have any tips for us? What he said next would guide the story of our pandemic life for months to come. And, I believe, ultimately save my sanity.
He said to look in three places: along fence lines, in gullies, and on south-facing slopes. Then he said to my son, as if passing on a secret of great importance, “Miles Equal Piles!”
After that day, our routine shifted from dragging my kids outside to picking a new “shed hunting adventure” each day. We used On-X Hunt and Forest Service maps to find parcels of public land that were legally accessible but likely not well used that might meet the three criteria laid out for us. We “explored” and “hunted” for antlers, skulls, and really, any bone or treasure.
As a parent, you won’t find a more useful phrase to motivate your nature-collection loving child. Your child doesn’t want to “adventure” today – remind her “Miles Equal Piles!” Your child is complaining that the hill is too steep: “Miles Equal Piles!” Your child wants to go home after walking for five minutes: “Miles Equal Piles!”
The public lands we accessed provided our family with a new sense of home. The open spaces allowed us to expand our horizons despite a lock down. Our explorations became my greatest source of joy, exhaustion, and peace of mind during the most challenging of times. And on some days the miles did, actually, equal piles.